Italian metallers Lacuna Coil have always been a band that hits a special place in my heart. With the eighth full-length album Delirium released on May 27th 2016 through Century Media Records Delirium is what I consider the band’s heaviest, darkest, aggressive and emotional albums to date. Combing elements of Gothic Metal, Alternative Metal and slight traces of Doom, Delirium is also the first album featuring drummer Ryan Blake Folden and guitarist Diego Cavallotti on duty to mark a new evolution for the band. Delirium is without question Lacuna Coil’s darkest, aggressive, emotional and finest albums they’ve ever done since 2002’s Comalies which heavily focused on gothic metal with alternative traces. Delirium balances out maturity, guitar melody, Andrea Ferro’s harsh singing and Ryan Blake Folden’s double bass drumming which is the first time you’ll hear relentless drum patterns of the band.
Clocking in around 45:00 in length and eleven tracks in, Delirium is an album about a dark cinematic experience which concentrates a vision so deeply that the inspiration was taken from multiple horror films well as a twisted insanity conceptual meaning behind the songs. Tracks such as The House Of Shame, Ghost In The Mist, Blood, Tears, Dust, My Demons and Take Me Home shows heaviness, beautiful vocals both performed by Cristina and Andrea, solid guitars almost bringing a Fear Factory/Motionless In White atmosphere and production on this record is simply top notch giving the members their natural talented selections. Delirium by Lacuna Coil is the strongest, darkest, well designed and developed records I’ve ever heard from them as this album marks the return of past material preferably Unleashed Memories mixed with Comalies but in a beautifully written approach. Their songs, atmosphere and lyricism alone for Delirium almost brings out a Dimmu Borgir meets Draconian with Type O Negative inspired instrumentals that fully captivated industrial metal and gothic boundaries to give symbolic meanings behind the fascination and deliverance to understand Delirium’s true colors. Overall, Delirium is a return to form of Lacuna Coil’s finest musicianship since Comalies. If you previously enjoyed 2014’s Broken Crown Halo, look no more because Delirium is an album that promises new and die hard fans to know how far this Italian outfit came long ways to make innovative and stylistic music.
Overall Score: 8.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
