LACUNA COIL Vocalist Says Gaining Recognition In Home Country Of Italy Has 'Always Been A Bit Of A Struggle'

LACUNA COIL vocalist Andrea Ferro recently spoke with the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" podcast. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On "Anima Nera", the opening track of the group's new album, "Black Anima":

Andrea: "We had this piece of music that Marco [Coti Zelati, bass] came up [with], and we thought it could have been a good intro for the live show, actually, because normally, we always have an instrumental intro that we access the stage [during] for the live performances. But then Cristina [Scabbia, vocals] had an idea — she really liked the melody, so she came up with the melody for the vocals. It sounded so good, it's almost like a short, mini-song, so we decided to use it as an intro, to do something a little different than what we've always done. We've never had a proper intro like that, so we decided to try and wrote some lyrics for it, and it fit very well the mood, I think, for the introduction of the record. It is quite a heavy record overall, so it was cool to have something soft to start with, and dark, to create the atmosphere, to set the mood, and then blasting some more heavy songs right after. We thought it was a good idea, so we decided to have an intro and also an outro at the end."

On the album's first single, "Layers Of Time":

Andrea: "It's sort of a heavy track that previews a little bit of all the moods you're going to find in the album — the more epic vocals from Cristina; the more rhythmical, harsh parts from myself. It's a portrait of the overall sound of the record."

On the band's longevity:

Andrea: "What's really important is the legacy that you create with the fans. That's something that's going to stay forever in your heart, in their heart. As much as we help them with our music, they also help us coming to the show and supporting the band. When we think about our career, we cannot avoid to think about the fans. I think the legacy with the fans is the main thing."

On his primary influences:

Andrea: "Growing up, I would say PANTERA and then TYPE O NEGATIVE, some of the early '90s bands — PARADISE LOST, KORN. All those bands really [encouraged] us to go towards a more heavy and sometimes dark sound and then forge our own style as LACUNA COIL. Those were the most influential times, around the beginning-to-mid-'90s, where we decided what kind of direction we were going to have for our style... Mostly, it was looking about to American or English bands, or somes Swedish or German, because Italy has always been a place more for melodic music. There's not such a great history of bands coming out of Italy playing rock and metal. It's more for melodic, traditional music, so it's always been a bit of a struggle for us to bring it in our own country... We needed to build it, because there was no history."

"Black Anima" will be released on October 11 through Century Media Records.

LACUNA COIL is currently on the road in North America with ALL THAT REMAINS on the "Disease Of The Anima" co-headlining tour.