Lacuna Coil are currently touring across North America with All that Remains in support of their new album, Black Anima, which is scheduled to arrive on October 11th via Century Media Records (pre-order here). Despite their busy schedule, we caught up with vocalist Cristina Scabbia to discuss their latest effort, their 119 special performance in NYC, and more.
How was the overall 119 experience in New York City?
It was fantastic because it was completely different from the one of a kind show that we gave in New York a year ago and it was more intimate. If I have to choose a word, I would say magical. It was great to see a lot of fans coming from all over the world. It was great to play some of the old stuff for them. There was such an amazing vibe in the venue.
We always had a great relationship with New York. I don’t know why, it always went fantastic here. New York always embraced us, like we were part of the family and it’s always good every time we come back. We have a lot of friends here.
Can you talk about your box set where you have Tarot cards and where that inspiration came from?
That will be the special edition for Black Anima. We thought that it would have been cool to create our own deck of cards, which are Tarot cards because each card has a personal design, a specific name, and tied to each song off the record. It is also what we consider our own book, the Black Anima, with the symbol in the front of the cover. It will be a very cool deluxe edition. All the collectors will freak out.
What are your thoughts on Tarot cards in a more spiritual sense?
I was always fascinated, but I’m not a person that gets Tarot readings or stuff like this. I think that is a great way to self analyze or soften the lies. I mean, you can connect and you can think a lot about what’s going on. I was also inspired by the cards. That’s what’s fascinating. But to be honest, I’m not into in a way that I really believe that Tarot readings are related to what’s going to happen. But, I like the visuals and the darkness behind it. I like the vibe.
The cards do fit well with Black Anima. I heard it’s supposed to be your darkest album yet. Can you talk more about this?
I guess the dark side comes not only from our personal case but also from a lot of things that happened in our life. Even during the recording, we lost a couple of good friends, and it was an intense feeling. It’s surprising how we learn how to deal with this stuff. Of course, the older you get, the more experiences you soak in. So, I guess this is coming from either our taste and experiences.
It’s been over three years since your last album, Delirium, can you discuss when you started working on Black Anima?
Actually, we would never write on the road. So, even if we have some ideas that we might collect, we like to stay at home and know that we only have to work on a new record. And, this is already challenging because you can’t force inspiration. Sometimes you sit in front of a computer or you’re sitting with a microphone or an instrument and you don’t know what to do with it because inspiration doesn’t come out. So we waited to be done with all the tours and we came back to Milan and went to Marco’s basement where he set up a studio and we started to actually record all the ideas and day by day everything took form.
I do hear a lot of darkness on Black Anima but mixed with a variety of lighter tones, which keeps the album entertaining.
When our A&R guy heard it for the first time, he described it in a way that I really like. It’s like entering a cathedral turning into a spaceship because, I think it’s a great balance between who we were at the beginning of our career and the music that we wrote back then, with a more musical poetic vibe, and the present, looking at the future.
I love that. A cathedral into a spaceship.
Yeah, it’s kind of cool. It gives you a good visual.
What’s your experience being part of Italy’s The Voice?
It was fun. I took that experience in a very relaxed way because I, as far as I can tell, a lot of people working on TV, have the stress that you make everything 100% perfect because I might not work next year. And, I went there and I took everything of course, absolutely professionally. But, when you’ve got the stress of saying, I mean my life is something different. So, I’m bringing my own experience from outside, taking it into a different context. And, I was so excited when they invited me because it was great for me. It was great for the band to have a different kind of exposure. We noticed that there was an approach from a different crowd, from a different audience to the band. So, I think it was really good for everything. And, it was a fun experience to do for sure.
When you toured here a few years ago with Epica, what I enjoyed most about that run was seeing the bond between you and Simone [Simons]. Would you two ever consider on a future collaboration in the future?
Why not? I mean, we have a lot of friends in the music business and I met Simone years and years and years ago. I remember it was in France and she came to the theater area and I think we still have a picture from that moment. So we’ve known each other for quite a long time and I love her. She’s a sweetheart and it’s always a pleasure to be with her and to meet the guys and it was great to be on tour with them, but because you know, it was a tour of friends and nothing gets better than that.
How did the tour with All That Remains come together?
As a band, you get proposals. You get different names and then, you decide that with the management and all of the logistic parts considering a tour. But, we think that it’s a great package, not only because we know the guys in All That Remains, we know their great to tour with. I think that even though we play a different kind of music, we still have the same approach. We like to evolve as bands and even if we’ve been around for a few years, we like to keep it fresh and it will be cool for every crowd to see bands that are playing different types of music so they don’t get bored hearing the same old show.
Is there anything that you want to say or add about the album?
I want to invite everyone on our gigs and on our social because we take care of ourselves and we read the messages and the comments. We’re really curious to know what they think of the new music. And of course, we’re so thankful for the support.
