Lacuna Coil has never been a conventional band.
Singers Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro have clean voices, yet juxtapose each other with haunting Siren vocals and grittier male intensity.
Marco Coti Zelati's thick bass, Cristiano Mozzati's battering drums and the potent guitars of Marco "Maus" Biazzi and Cristiano Migliore mesh instead of clash.
The Italian rock band Lacuna Coil will play Friday at The Venue during the Hard Drive 2009 Tour presented by Rock 104 and Glory Days Presents!. Tickets are $17 in advance, and the show begins at 7 p.m.
The band will be touring for the next few months with All That Remains, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, From Sword to Sunrise and Taking Dawn.
Lacuna Coil is touring with its new album, "Shallow Life," the fifth release from the band. It departed from the gothic metal genre and made it to No. 16 on the Billboard 200 Chart. It's an honor that took the band "a little while to realize," Migliore, one of the guitarists, wrote in an e-mail.
"We're definitely proud. We love all these new songs. We wrote in such a relaxed way and there was no pressure at any time," he wrote.
Renowned producer Don Gilmore ensured Lacuna Coil was comfortable during recording for "Shallow Life." He flew to Italy after receiving demo tapes and discussed songs with the members. Migliore said Gilmore never pushed and took time to understand the band's history.
"This music really represent(s) what Lacuna Coil is today and we're glad that people like it," Migliore wrote.
Even after trotting around the globe, playing festivals from Germany to Australia, Migliore had only positive remarks.
"We never did a tour that we didn't like being on. We always met great people and tried to make the best out of every situation."
"I Like It," the second single off of "Shallow Life," epitomizes that ambience. In the music video, Scabbia tries out as a singer for comical stereotypes, ranging from grill-wearing rappers to pyro-worshipping metalheads. As Scabbia and Ferro sing "I'm free to be what I like, I'm celebrating my life" in uplifting tones, tinges of an Italian accent slip out and Zelati, Mozzati, Biazzi and Migliore accompany them with revitalizing simplicity.
"The music always kinda gives you a certain feeling... it's all a very abstract thing, and it's also very personal. But we always try to make sure they both (lyrics and music) work together."
Lacuna Coil does not believe in repeating the same musical formula in every album, though. Since their self-titled extended play in 1998 - years after meeting in a Milan metal pub - Migliore said each release has been different.
"Shallow Life," with a grenade perfume bottle on the cover, delves into the superficiality of today's world.
"When we started writing the music for 'Shallow Life,' the whole concept about today's superficiality wasn't even there yet," Migliore wrote. "Andrea and Cristina came up with the idea at a later time and tried to adapt the lyrics they wrote to the music we wrote."
Members adapted to their changing influences, pairing eerie riffs with refreshing and catchy rock on some tracks and gothic beginnings with mainstream vibes on others. Dark undertones are present, and as the album progresses, more harmonies, cleaner vocals and tighter playing appear.
"We always try to go further, to go beyond our limits and try new solutions," Migliore wrote. "It's just a matter of following your heart and write stuff that you really enjoy playing and listening to. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be doing this anymore."
