In a Reverie

Lacuna Coil's initial self-titled EP, while showing some promising ideas, lacked polish and was somewhat scattered in it's presentation. However, this changed with the release of their first full length album, In A Reverie.

This album contains all the hallmarks of what Lacuna Coil has traditionally been associated with: poetic lyricism, ethereal and atmospheric effects created through interesting experimentation with guitars, and the beauty and the beast vocals from Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro. Interestingly enough, for a band that is considered to be one of the major bands of gothic metal, their is surprisingly little of the aggression often associated with general metal. This album definitely leans more to the "Gothic" portion of gothic metal.

The album is quite good from start to finish. Circle, the opening track, probably best epitomizes the sound of this band, combining the wistful and keening vocals from Cristina with a fairly unhappy, yet poetic, lyrics about being trapped in a spiral of regret. Stately Love, despite its title, is actually one of the most aggressive tracks on the album. Honeymoon Suit is one of the best tracks on the album, and it makes the best use of the dual vocalists to convey two sides of a broken relationship. My Wings is the most uptempo song on the album, but their are some lyrics in the this one ("Butterflys are flying right beside me"?) that might be off-putting to some. To Myself I Turned makes wonderful use of the unreliable narrator technique to create one of the more thoughtful tracks on the album. Cold is probably the song that would best fit in a literal definition of "Gothic Metal", as it is fairly aggressive while simultaneously describing the merciless ruining of another's life. Reverie, the titular track, is the most wistful and gothic song on the album, describing an infatuation that can only be fulfilled in the narrators dreams. Veins of Glass is the only weak track on the album, with rather weak and repetitive lyrics and song structure. The album closes with Falling Again, a redone version of a song that was on the band's initial EP, and ends the album on a high note.

When all is said and done this was a hell of a debut for Lacuna Coil. This album has all the polish and presentation that was lacking on their EP, while still retaining the style and lyricism that makes the band standout. Even after releasing another 4 albums, this is arguably the best work, and a good listen for anyone who is a fan of gothic metal.