LACUNA COIL's CRISTINA SCABBIA: 'Being Attracted To The Darker Side Of Life Doesn't Mean You're A Negative Person At All'

TNT Radio Rock conducted an interview with vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, and bassist Marco Coti Zelatia of heavy Italian rockers LACUNA COIL at this year's Leyendas Del Rock festival in Villena, Spain. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the writing process for the band's forthcoming "Black Anima" studio album:

Andrea: "Mostly after we finished a little bit of the touring cycle for 'Delirium', or we slowed down a little bit. Marco started to compose some music, even if in the beginning it was hard because there wasn't so much inspiration, so we took a little bit to get in the mood of writing the songs. After he got some songs that he thought were good enough to find vocal lines, he passed them to us, then we meet all together in his little studio in his house. We brought our ideas and then we discuss and we talk and we change stuff."

Marco: "It's a classic process."

On the musical direction of "Black Anima":

Cristina: "It will be a new record, so new songs. You can't compare any of our records. There was always a little bit of something new, because, of course, you grow up as a person. You have different influences, you live different experiences, and they all go into your music and your lyrics. You will find a lot of new things. You just have to be patient and listen to it."

Andrea: "We could say we started from what we liked from 'Delirium' and brought in things that people like from 'Delirium'. From there, we moved to the next step, adding different elements. I think this record compared to 'Delirium', there's a bit more variety of songs. There are some slower songs, more atmospheric, but still very powerful and epic. There are a couple more epic songs; there's a couple more catchy songs, some more groovy and some more melodic. Then there's some heavy songs, like five or six heavy songs. Then there's an intro, there's an outro — they're also little songs that create the mood of the record. There's not just one concept in terms of one story that starts and finishes, but there's a theme that goes all over the record that's the inspiration for the music and the lyrics."

On the supposed "dark" nature of "Black Anima":

Marco: "It is. The music is not so dark. It's not like we're going to make a LACRIMOSA album. It's just the vibe and the mood of [the songs], and in a modern way. The sound is heavier, but it's not just dark."

Andrea: "I think it's more of the lyrics. The way we approach the lyrics and certain sounds, certain atmospheres that are dark, but it's not evil. It's more like contact between two worlds. Let's say the afterworld and us and the way we keep in touch with everything that has happened, the people we don't have with us anymore and the way they surround us."

Cristina: "To us, it was more of an acceptance that darkness is a part of life as well. We didn't want to hide any aspects of life because as they said, being attracted to the darkest side of life, even visually, even artwork, doesn't mean that you're a negative person at all. It just means you know that it's yin and yang. It's everything in here right now."

"Black Anima" will be released on October 11 through Century Media Records. Once more, LACUNA COIL teamed up with director Roberto Cinardi (a.k.a. SaKu) to shoot the video for "Layers Of Time". SaKu has worked with the band for many videos, such as the award-winning "Spellbound" (2009),"I Won't Tell You" (2010),"End Of Time" (2012) and the short film with members of the band, "Dark Passengers" (2012).

LACUNA COIL and ALL THAT REMAINS will join forces for the "Disease Of The Anima" North American co-headlining tour. The trek includes special guests BAD OMENS, TOOTHGRINDER (September 15 - October 10),EXIMIOUS (October 11 - October 19) and UNCURED.