Broken Crown Halo

The musical trajectory of Lacuna Coil is not dissimilar to the disconcerting evolution of Meg Ryan's face. Back in the days when she was gracing cinema screens alongside the likes of Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal in various hit rom-coms, she was quite an endearing and cute actress. Then the slow metamorphosis ensued, and it really wasn't about age at all as many young actresses age gracefully, sometimes even reaching regal heights. Cuteness replaced by elegance. Meg's situation followed a different course. The popular consensus for her burgeoning amphibious features is apparently the results of multiple and extremely ill-advised botox injections, but let's not be real here. Clearly her current physical state is due to her being one of those hybrid species as described within the pages of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". If you haven’t read it, it’s an excellent yarn about a town whose population, when reaching a certain age, gradually transform into aquatic monsters (also perhaps an allegory about the supposed evils of inter-racial marriage, a bridge I feel no shame in having crossed, but no matter). At this point in time, judging by her visage, she's got maybe fifteen years left at most until the gills crop up and she finally removes her false eyelids, heads off to the New England coast, and dives deep into the ocean to eventually peruse the shopping malls of Y'ha-nthlei, possibly alongside Priscilla Presley (the darkest secret of Elvis).

It's been a long time now since Lacuna Coil musically resembled the band that dropped recordings such as Halflife back at the turn of the century. If nothing else, Broken Crown Halo basically approximates their prior release in sound and that's about it. If you didn't enjoy Dark Adrenaline, then you sure in Hell aren't going to cuddle up to this one either. Any trace of that dreamy atmosphere flavoring their early output has been completely jettisoned. Even when they take a stab at writing material that could be construed as "gothic" such as the slow and brooding final track, the modern punchy production quashes any remote wisp of a haunting aura. Overall, the music itself can generally be classified as heavy metal with blatant pop inclinations, but I will say that at least it's actually reasonably 'heavy'. I don't get the notion as of yet that the band are ready to dole out a power ballad rendition of that Disney flick Frozen's "Let It Go". That stage would be Meg Ryan in full-on flipper mode.

Andrea's increased vocal presence continues here, and even now he still hasn't figured out how to at least subdue that strong accent he wields, which in turn gets pretty distracting. He also spurts out a few angry growls on occasion, baring his chest while Cristina unfortunately keeps hers concealed. I've never been a fan of his voice, but at this point I'm just sort of resigned to dealing with it, and with low expectations he actually doesn’t detract from the songs. Most of them aren't particularly stellar to begin with, so another shoggoth in a pool full of shoggoths isn't going to fuck shit up any more than it already is. Cristina is her usual fine self, and even gets few solo tunes as a respite from Andrea's hearty yammering, but out of those only "Hostage to the Light" leaves a strong impression as she challenges her range and gets her rocks off in the process. As good as she is, I still wouldn’t place her on the highest of pedestals unlike some of her more officious admirers. I would guess that Arjen utilizing her for his latest overwrought Ayreon project was only partially due to her talent, with name recognition being a more primary factor.

As a whole, the album doesn't stick to a main formula and repeat itself ad-nauseam like a couple of their other efforts, but at the same time, some of the ideas presented are grating, such as the simplistic djent chugs of "Zombies" or the lapse into Breaking Benjamin style 'alternative metal' during the latter half of the album, with "In the End I Feel Alive" and its "Burn baby burn baby!" bullshit rants constituting a serious lowpoint. I absolutely HATE that song. The opener is pretty fucking corny as well, unless you're looking for hokey lyrics that'll provide that drive to achieve a few extra bicep curl reps. Settled into their amphibious status, the band aren’t pushing themselves to any complex degree of showmanship, but everything is tightly performed and the production values are impeccably polished without the goofy engineering embellishments plaguing their disastrous Shallow Life. The guitars are downtuned, chunky and bolstered by a beefy low-end, and the rare appearance of adequate if not exceptional guitar solos surprisingly pop up to spice up some of these tracks.

It's time to face the damn face though, in that Lacuna Coil hasn't remotely turned me on in at least a decade now with the exception of a few choice songs, and yet I've kind of grown accustomed to their new complexion. As it sometimes happens, someone could move to a place such as Innsmouth due to its affordable rent options, and initially be repulsed by every aspect of the place; though over time he could eventually adjust to his new surroundings, and subsequently even the quirks of the local denizens. Next thing you know, he's a regular Troy McClure hanging out at the Fish-n-Chicks burlesque house three blocks east from the Esoteric Order Of Dagon ceremonial hall. I'm nowhere near to that degree of complacence, and I have little interest in showering affection upon Broken Crown Halo, but I will confess that in regards to the case of the new tenant of Innsmouth, if I was given the unfortunate choice between becoming a 'breeder' or a human sacrifice to Cthulhu, I'd easily choose the former. Better to be "fhtagn" some fish broad than wind up with my sorry ass killed by a slew of them. Using that analogy, as much as I'm disappointed with the direction Lacuna Coil took after the first few releases, I find myself getting accustomed to their shit to a degree in which I don't exactly consider it the most loathsome of aural abominations. I can even surmise that these tunes would work better in a live setting, and Andrea's increased presence makes sense in that he wouldn't be spending the bulk of his time on stage wondering what the hell to do with himself besides jumping around like an idiot or spanking a tambourine.

As a band I listened to on a regular basis thirteen years ago, their releases since those days tend to either remain steadfast, or transmute into something more insipid to my ears. If you do like Dark Adrenaline, then it's likely worth your time to give Broken Crown Halo a spin, although I must say that some of these tunes feel like cutting board leftovers from that release. There are some tracks that I do find myself appreciating despite not being into the style, such as "Hostage to the Light" and "Die & Rise" with its monolithic bass presence, but basically this album, and the band, doesn't pertain to my taste anymore. I'm not repulsed by their later work, just thoroughly indifferent. There are other, bigger fish to fry.