Bloody hell.
I love this album.
There I said it. Now comes the hard part; trying to explain why you should love it too.
There’s something darkly rebellious about ‘Sleepless Empire‘ – like that cool kid at school; the one that refused to follow the rules, but you admired them and secretly wanted to be them. Actually, I’m not sure if this is telling you more about me than about the album. Hmm. This is harder than I thought.
Ok. Let’s try and at least tell you about the songs.
The opening track, ‘The Siege’ opens in the distance with a sense of dissonance that comes from hearing someone singing from afar. It’s haunting, you strain to understand and just when you realise you can’t, the song kicks in with Andrea Ferro’s growl vocals over the powerful wall of sound that slams into you. Damn. And this is just in the intro. The heaviness drops a little for Cristina Scabbia’s soaring vocals in the first verse, she leads us into the pre-chorus and then is joined again by Andrea as they harmonise together, clean and growls, beauty and the beast. The effect is pure Lacuna Coil. It’s epic and anthemic and immediately a favourite. After about 3.25 it slows to something ethereal before returning for the harmonious final chorus. It’s an instant classic for me.
You’ve a moment to catch your breath before Cristina screams through you and ‘Oxygen’ hits. Marco’s bass and Andrea’s growls fight for your attention before one of the best chorus’s we’ve heard for a while takes over. There are notes of Black Anima in this; a familiarity that will help you ride the wave of heaviness throughout. The beautiful balance in Oxygen is made up of all those years of experience that Lacuna Coil working together; there is space for everyone, nothing is left behind. One has to wonder if it’s called ‘Oxygen’ because the whole band has equal space to breathe their elements into the song.
The opening of ‘Scarecrow’ will throw you (well it did me!) Lacuna Coil have never been afraid to mix things up a little and electronic beats immediately leave you wondering if they are taking on a metal-pop journey. Spoilers – they aren’t. In fact, we soon hear aggressive vocals from both vocalists, a bass that is relentless, and drums that bring this together into something quite special. The melody sweeps us along and to its 4 minute conclusion, but it’s complex layers have taken us on quite the journey. I was left breathless after ‘Scarecrow’.
The opening 30 seconds of ‘Gravity’, with its Latin chanting is just want we need after ‘Scarecrow’ before Andrea hits us hard with the first verse of this modern gothic anthem. It’s dark and perfectly formed, but the highlight is the chorus. If you’ve heard the single, I bet you’re already singing along with Cristina – “But the centre of my gravity is now shattered – Can’t find the balance that I’ve lost“. Yep, I’m there with you. Something about this song takes me way back to the early albums of Lacuna Coil and I feel that if ‘In A Reverie’ were recorded today, ‘Gravity’ would fit perfectly on it. At its core ‘Gravity’ proves to be very personal that speaks to many of us. How do we maintain our resilience in the sleepless empire of our lives? It hits hard and is powerful.
Taking a departure from the heaviness of the previous tracks ‘I Wish You Dead’ is a fusion of electronic, rock and pop. It’s so very catchy and no surprise it will be a single. I can well imagine people dancing away at their next Lacuna Coil show to this. It’s playful in tone, but with the juxtaposition of dark lyrics, suggests an undercurrent of discomfort in the message. Oh, and I should warn you – it’s an absolute ear worm!
By now I’m sure everyone is aware that Randy Blythe, of Lamb of God, is a guest vocal on the next track, ‘Hosting the Shadow’. His deep growl vocals give this song an additional gravitas that is maintained throughout. Cristina takes over in the chorus, but the vocal harmonies are there, and the overall lyrical effect is a cry of triumph. I really get a positive message from ‘Hosting the Shadow’, I feel that rebellion, that cry of ‘fuck you’ coming through the song. It’s passionate but empowering. We all have a darkness but recognising that allows us to accept it and move on.
‘In Nomine Patris’ is I can best describe as a cross-genre Lacuna Coil classic. I struggle to place it in one place in the band’s diverse musical style. It is, of course, an evolution of many parts of their music. While Sleepless Empire is an evolution of their previous album Black Anima, ‘In Nomine Patris’ transcends that linear step. I hear tones of Unleashed Memories in this beautiful song and am deeply in love with the result – oh and the guitar solo is awesome.
The title track of the album, ‘Sleepless Empire‘ builds through Latin undertones, into Andrea’s brilliant growl vocals. Then we get Cristina’s chanting in a chorus that will immediately draw your attention. Everything is so tight; the guitars, the percussion, the lyrics, the vocals. This must be what mastering your craft sounds like. This is Andrea’s song; you feel the desperation and anger exploding from him. “This is a Sleepless Empire!” – We feel it. We feel the loss of identity. We need to heed the warning.
All this heaviness. Is this taking us too far away from the Lacuna Coil many of us grew up (or old) on? For some, the answer maybe yes. But, wait up. Give ‘Sleep Paralysis’ a listen. Just one, or maybe two. And then fall in love all over again. The song combines some of the dark, gothic, soulful tones that are at the heart of Lacuna Coil and evolves them into the age of Sleepless Empire. It’s longest track on the album and I wish it was even longer. It brings to mind the song ‘1.19’ off of the album Unleashed Memories, with a mix of Broken Crown Halo, Delerium Black Anima and, oh don’t know, dark seductive magic. It’s perfect and I can’t get enough.
How do you follow ‘Sleep Paralysis’? You change the tone, and give us the slap of modern heavy metal, with a pop-y chorus that is ‘In The Meantime’ – that features Ash Costello. This song took me a while to ‘get’ but now it’s a keeper and, after the emotional knocks of ‘Sleep Paralysis’ it’s just want we need to reset ourselves (see what I did there?)
So finally, we have ‘Never Dawn’. I wondered if we would hear this song on Sleepless Empire and I assumed that, if we did, it would be the opening track to the album because of it’s extended intro. I was wrong, it’s the last song and, it makes so much more sense there. The savage bass of Marco – the musical mastermind of Lacuna Coil, the relentless drums of Richard who has stamped his mark well and truly on bands sound, the evil-incarnate growls of Andrea, and the iconic vocals of Cristina as she screams at us to “Ignite the fire in your heart!” The message is positive, and it needs to be; these are dark times and many of us find solace in music. Sleepless Empire is a warning but also reminds us that we can overcome.
So there you have it. Sleepless Empire. This is the Lacuna Coil of 2025. It’s heavy, as heavy as it gets. It’s relentless and it hits hard. But there are moments of gothic beauty throughout that are magical. There’s an edge to it, rebellious, a stark reminder to be mindful of conforming to ‘the norm’. Lacuna Coil continues to evolve their music; they continue on their journey and ask us to join them. As they change, so new fans are formed and some leave. It will be the same here of course, but Sleepless Empire deserves to bring the band many more fans than any few that might leave them.
Lacuna Coil haven’t made music for us, they have made it for themselves; their message is dark, but with light therein, and is crafted with an emotional heart. Their music is as heavy has it has ever been but also crosses genres and is accessible for those that don’t always want extremes. In that respect it’s cool, and somewhat rebellious, and you have to admire it.
Bloody hell.
I love this album.