Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan, Italy, formed in 1994.^[4][5]Sleep of Right and Ethereal, the band was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music, and the members have been known, musically, for composing midtempo songs consisting of guitar lines overlaid with prominent keyboard work, and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies to help create a melodic detached sound. Much of the band's recent material, however, sees a heavier and more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of the guitars within the songs. Formerly known as

The band's 2006 release, Karmacode peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200. They have played among the world's biggest heavy metal festivals on the main stage including Ozzfest, Bloodstock Open Air, Wacken Open Air, and played with Megadeth on their Gigantour tour in November 2007, and are currently on tour with Bullet for My Valentine.

Beginning - Lacuna Coil EP (1994-1998)

Andrea Ferro and Marco Coti Zelati formed Sleep of Right in Milan, Italy, 1995, and recruited Raffaele Zagaria on guitars, and Michaelangelo on the drums. After releasing two demos, Bleeding Souls and Noise of Bolgia, Claudio Leo became the band's second guitarist, and Leonardo Forti replaced Michaelangelo on the drums after his departure. The band asked Cristina Scabbia, a friend, to sing background vocals briefly, which led to her officially joining Sleep of Right. Soon after, the band changed their name to Ethereal, and signed to Century Media at the end of 1997. Finding that the name Ethereal was already taken by a Greek band, they changed their name to Lacuna Coil, which means empty spiral.^[6]

Lacuna Coil released a self-titled EP through Century Media in 1998. Shortly after, there came the departure of bandmates Raffael Zagaria, Claudio Leo, and Leonardo Forti. As a result, guitarist Cristiano Migliore and drummer Cristiano Mozzati were recruited officially. At this point, the band was touring with Moonspell after the release of the Lacuna Coil EP.

[edit] In a Reverie (1998-2000)

Following a second European tour, the band recorded their debut full-length album, In a Reverie, and added second guitarist Marco Biazzi. The band supported the album with another European tour, co-headlining with Skyclad. Allmusic rated the album 4 stars, saying it was "a fine debut by a band that bears watching." The band toured much more, participating in Milan's Rolling Stone magazine-sponsored venue, plus as a show headlined by a German band.

[edit] Halflife EP-Unleashed Memories (2000-2002)

Following the debut, In A Reverie, Half-Life was released in 2000 with five songs, entitled "Half Life," "Hyperfast," "Stars," (A cover of a Dubstar single), "Trance Awake," and a demo version of a future song, "Senzafine." "Senzafine" was added onto the band's next big project: their 2001 album Unleashed Memories. The studio album only had ten songs onto it, but a future release included the five songs from the Halflife EP. Allmusic rated it 3 stars.

[edit] Comalies (2002-2006)

The band was in for a change for the better when its breakthrough album, Comalies was released in 2002; it received high reviews from certain corners of the metal^{[7][8][9][10]} A significant player on Europe's metal scene for nearly a decade at this point, the band was virtually unknown in the U.S.A. until it began touring there.^[11]Uranium gave the band some of its earliest U.S. exposure; over a year later, the first single from Comalies -- "Heaven's a Lie" -- began to receive radio and media attention, pulling the band into North America's musical mainstream. Networks such as Fuse played the song's video, for example. The second single, "Swamped," was played in heavy rotation and used in the video game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Music videos were filmed for both songs and broadcast on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball, which also had the band perform a live, acoustic rendition of "Heaven's a Lie". world.

By 2004, Comalies had become the best-selling CD in Century Media's history. The band appeared at Ozzfest in between headlining club tours in the U.S.A. and Europe.

A bonus, extended version of Comalies was released both in stores and on iTunes. This version consisted of both live and acoustic versions of the songs "Heaven's A Lie," "Swamped," "Unspoken," "Aeon," and "Senzafine" from Unleashed Memories.

[edit] Karmacode (2006-2008)

In an effort to best exploit Lacuna Coil's ascendant popularity, the band and label postponed the release of their highly-anticipated follow-up to Comalies -- Karmacode -- to early 2006. According to the band's website, this made it possible for more time to be spent on production, and, to avoid the crowded summer 2005 release schedule for metal albums. On December 23, 2005 the band announced on their web site that all recording, mixing, and mastering on Karmacode had been completed. It was then announced that Karmacode would be released in the USA on April 4, 2006. "Our Truth" was the first single (and video); it was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Underworld: Evolution. The video went into rotation on MTV and the single peaked in the top forty on the U.S. Mainstream Rock charts, also the song was featured as a bonus song in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and in Guitar Hero World Tour.

During their 2005 European Tour, Lacuna Coil performed two new songs (working titles "A2" and "Antonio") at selected concerts. "Our Truth" was referred to at the time as "Antonio". "A2" was re-named "Fragile", which is the opening track on Karmacode.

Karmacode debuted at #28 on the Billboard Charts. It was acclaimed by music critics and magazines.^{[12][13][14][15]} Corresponding with the release of the new album, Lacuna Coil toured with Rob Zombie throughout North America in early 2006, it also appeared at Ozzfest 2006 on the main stage. The band also played at the 2006 Download Festival (a three-day music festival in England's Donington Park), which was headlined by Metallica, Tool, and Guns N' Roses. It also played one night in the U.K. at Sheffield Corporation on October 17, 2006. That December, Lacuna Coil teamed up with In Flames, The Sword and Seemless for a U.S. Tour, as well as The Blackest of the Black 2006 Tour (with headlining act Danzig, and bands like Asesino, Belphegor, and The Haunted).

Four singles were officially released from Karmacode: "Our Truth," "Closer," "Within Me," and a cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence."

In March 2007, Lacuna Coil joined Stone Sour and Shadows Fall on the Jägermeister Music Tour. In May, it toured the USA with Within Temptation and The Gathering, on the The Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour 2007.

Departing from the official tour dates, the band stopped in Raleigh, North Carolina in early April to play with local bands Wounded Soul, Blatant Disarray, and Shadows Fall. It again departed from the tour schedule in Albuquerque, New Mexico in late April to play the Sunshine Theater with Stolen Babies, Beneath the Sky, and Shadows Fall.

In October 2007 Lacuna Coil played for the first time in Japan, during the Loudpark Festival '07 in Saitama City's Saitama Super Arena. In November 2007 they joined Megadeth, DevilDriver, Static-X and Bring Me the Horizon for the Australian leg of Megadeth's Gigantour.

[edit] Visual Karma (Body, Mind and Soul)

Lacuna Coil's first live DVD was released in November 2008, entitled Visual Karma (Body, Mind and Soul). The CD/DVD is a retrospective of all things from the band’s “Karmacode” album cycle. The set list features concerts filmed at Germany's Wacken Festival and at the Japanese Loudpark Festival in 2007.^[16]

[edit] Shallow Life (2009)

In the magazine Rock Sound, it was recently announced that Lacuna Coil's fifth studio album, that will be produced by Don Gilmore, would have some Arabic influences.

Cristina Scabbia announced to Rock Sound,"It's different, but it's our style. We haven't done anything absolutely different from our style, because that wouldn't be natural, that would be weird - it wouldn't be us. The songs are definitely more powerful, more complete, more intense, more straight-to-the-point".

Andrea Ferro told Rock Sound,"We've put more attention on the real meaning of the songs, so the vocals are a bit more prominent. We've worked a lot with Don Gilmore on the pronunciation of the words in English, so people really understand the meanings of the words. There are strong choruses, where people can relate and really understand what we mean".

On December 13th, it was revealed that the album would be called Shallow Life, and is due in the spring of 2009.^[17] According to a post on the band's MySpace on Februaury 11, 2009, the album will be released in Europe on April 20 and in the United States on April 21.

In February/March 2009, Lacuna Coil played at the Australian music festival Soundwave with other big metal acts including DevilDriver, In Flames, Lamb of God and Nine Inch Nails. The festival spanned the 5 mainland capital cities, at which they performed their new single, Spellbound, from the upcoming album for the first time.