Review LACUNA COIL ‘Comalies XX’

‘Comalies’ is the third album of Lacuna Coil and saw the light of day on September 23, 2002. The longplayer is still the best-selling album of the Italian sextet. The magic of the record is certainly also due to its creation story.

Lacuna Coil developed the songs shortly before recording began, which led to an intense and focused process. In addition, on their third album, the band scaled back the complexity, which benefited the songs.

Twenty years later, the band has decided to celebrate their breakthrough album and how can you do it better than with a new version of the old crowd-pleasers. Under the name of ‘Comalies XX’ Lacuna Coil are releasing a completely reworked version these days.

One can philosophize about the sense of such a rework. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the tracks demonstrate, on the one hand, why Lacuna Coil belong to the greats of their genre. ‘Swamped’, ‘Self Deception’ and the title track are simply great songs that unfold their complete strength in the new version. And of course we should not forget ‘Tight Rope’, a song that belongs to the best of the band.

What is noticeable is that Andrea Ferro’s growl parts have become more extensive, which is immediately striking in the opener ‘Swamped’. In addition, the sound of the tracks has become more modern and is inspired by the latest albums. Everything sounds richer and fuller. This inevitably leads to the fact that the charm of the original record has lost and at the same time ‘Comalies XX’ manages to convince new listeners with a voluminous sound.

‘Comalies XX’ is a musical birthday celebration. One can easily have both records next to each other on the shelf, as both records are different and yet have more than just similarities.