There are some albums where you remember the exact moment you heard something from it. In this case the clock has to be rewound 20 years to October 2002. I walked into Resurrection Records in Camden, heard a track by this band and was immediately captivated. Eagerly going over to the counter I then saw the artwork and in that moment I became a fan of Lacuna Coil and the album Comalies. Since then it has become one of the handful of albums from that time that has stayed in regular rotation.
Both excitement and apprehension going in, but more than anything I’m eager to see how this re-release compares to the original. It’s not long before I find out as opening track “Swamped” delivers immediately! Christina Scabbia’s vocals are more prominent, the track is slightly more sped up from the original and there are also now growling parts from Andrea Ferro. So it’s a promising start, but then the very first track I ever heard from this band (“Heaven’s A Lie”) comes through the speakers and right here is total justification to me for the albums revisit. Again little twists in tone and vocal style and I feel like I have become a fan all over again.
I didn’t think I would be surprised too much overall, but then “Daylight Dancer” fires in with actual blast beats so now I don’t know what to expect! I already have the opinion that the original didn’t have a back track on it and now I’m at the point of considering putting the original on and playing them back to back to compare.
As the album continues into tracks such as “Humane”, “Tight Rope” and “Entwined”, memories and associations that were long forgotten seem to resurface which I hadn’t expected. I can only ascertain from this that this album, over the last 20 years, has had a bigger impact on me than I had realised… and that itself is really a powerful thing.
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“This is not a reboot or a spin-off or anything like that,” says vocalist Christina Scabbia. “We just wanted to give these songs a 2022 dress and see that this guy or girl who was born 20 years ago would still look fucking slick in 2022.”
There hasn’t been a single a track on this version I have disliked and as the final, title track “Comalies” fades I’m left with an overall sense of joy. Joy that an I album I clearly adore has been so lovingly respected.
Experiencing goosebumps all over again.
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Comalies XX is released on October 14th via Century Media Records
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