Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band formed in Milan, Italy, in 1996. They were formerly known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal.
Lacuna Coil's music is inspired by gothic imagery, using melodic guitar lines, alternating heavy and light vocals, and a bit of pop influence. According to themselves, the band is influenced by Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Septic Flesh and Type O Negative, among others.
The band formed as Sleep of Right in 1994, but soon changed their name to Ethereal, and were signed by Century Media at the end of 1997. Finding that the name Ethereal was already taken, they settled instead on Lacuna Coil (meaning something like "empty spiral": "lacuna" meaning lack of memory or emptiness, "Coil" meaning spiral).
The band consisted at that point of co-vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro with bassist Marco Coti Zelati. The band recorded a self titled EP, released in 1998, and went on tour supporting label-mates Moonspell. The band was accompanied for this tour by guitarist Cristiano Migliore and drummer Cristiano Mozzati.
Following a second European tour, the band recorded their debut full-length album, In a Reverie, and added second guitarist Marco Biazzi. The band supported the album with another European tour, co-headlining with Skyclad.
In 2002, the band released Comalies, an album which received acclaim and rave reviews from all corners of the metal world. Over a year later, the first single from this album, Heaven's a Lie, began to receive radio and media attention and pulled the band into the mainstream. The second single, Swamped, also played in heavy rotation, and was used in the video game "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines", both in one of the game's fictitous clubs and along with the game's endgame credits. Music videos were filmed for both songs and broadcast on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, further extending the band's reach.
By 2004, Comalies had become the best-selling CD in Century Media's history. The band appeared at Ozzfest in between headlining club tours in America and Europe. In an effort to best take advantage of Lacuna Coil's ascendant popularity, the band and label rescheduled the release of their highly-anticipated follow up to Comalies, Karmacode, which is expected for an early 2006 release. According to the band's website, this made it possible for more time to be spent on production while also avoiding the crowded summer 2005 release schedule for metal albums. On December 23rd, 2005, the band announced via their official web site that all recording, mixing, and mastering has been finished and that Karmacode is complete. Soon after, it was announced that Karmacode would be released in USA on April 4th, 2006. One of its tracks, "Our Truth", will be the first single (and video) and will be featured as well on the soundtrack of the upcoming movie Underworld: Evolution in stores on January 10th, 2006.
During their 2005 European Tour, Lacuna Coil performed two new songs (working titles "A2" and "Antonio") at selected concerts. "Our Truth" is one of these songs, tentatively referred to at the time as "Antonio", while the song "A2" has been renamed to "Fragile", and is the opening track on their upcoming album Karmacode
Lacuna Coil Ish:
Cristina Scabbia - Female vocals
Andrea Ferro - Male vocals
Cristiano Migliore - Guitar
Marco "Maus" Biazzi - Guitar
Marco Coti Zelati - Bass and keyboards
Cristiano "Criz" Mozzati - Drums
Discography:
Ethereal (Demo) (1996)
Lacuna Coil (EP, 1997)
In a Reverie (1999)
Halflife (EP, 2000)
Unleashed Memories (2001)
Comalies (2002)
Comalies: Ozzfest Edition (2CD) (2004)
Karmacode (2006)
