3.5/5
What do you do after guesting on a comeback album with Megadeth, one of the big four of ’80s metal? If you’re Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia, you write an album like a shark ‘mdash; graceful yet predatory.
Since 2003’s Comalies, the Italian band has been on the rise, blending Scabbia’s classical contralto with guitars on max distortion for a burst of melodic power metal (think Linkin Park meets Nightwish). Sneaking up the food chain, Shallow Life packs six hammering, four-star tracks ‘mdash; then shoots blanks with six forgettables.
Crank the guitars to 11, slice Scabbia’s sandpaper harmony with baritone Andrea Ferro and the hunt is on. Like the distant smell of chum in the water, ‘Survive”s guitars aren’t playing distinct riffs; they circle in the background, creating a wall of sound. The next three tracks slip into pulse-pounding sameness, a heartbeat inside your head. ‘I Like It’ spins Scabbia’s jangling vocals like a harsher version of Pink’s ‘So What,’ muttering guitars chopping through tense verses while the chorus explodes, Scabbia soars, and Ferro follows in her wake.
But then the shark flounders. The radiant chorus of ‘Spellbound’ unchains guitars for a stellar solo, but falls flat in Ferro’s sneering, I-think-this-is-American accent. Pretentiously deep lyrics and plodding piano melodies pollute the waters for an unclimatic, murky conclusion. Fortunately, a stable of radio-ready singles still give Shallow Life plenty of power to chip your teeth on. For genre virgins looking for a first and metalheads who just can’t get into bullish growling, Lacuna Coil is more stealthy with just as much bite.