ANDREA FERRO On LACUNA COIL’s Visual Presentation: ‘It’s Very Important To Have These Theatrical Kind Of Images’

In a new interview with Neil Jones of TotalRock, LACUNA COIL vocalist Andrea Ferro spoke about the importance of the band’s visual presentation, particularly as it relates to the stage clothes he and the rest of LACUNA COIL wear during each album cycle. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, for us it’s important that everything is tightened together. The artwork of the album, all the ideas around the promotion, obviously the stage clothes, the backdrop, all the gear on stage. And so we pay some attention. We like to draw a lot of ideas and then pass it to some artists that can develop it in a more professional way. And we work with Roberto Toderico, which is an Italian artist from Naples, for all the artwork.”Referencing LACUNA COIL’s latest album, “Sleepless Empire”, which was released last month via Century Media, Andrea said: “We gave [Roberto] some basic inputs in the beginning, especially for the cover, the crow skull. We gave him a very basic version of it and then he developed it into this fantastic image. And we use it on our uniforms. And in the beginning we wore all these uniforms because we wanted a tight image to support the cover and the message of the new album. And now we’re developing some different clothes, especially for me and Cristina [Scabbia, LACUNA COIL co-vocalist], that we’re gonna give you on the tour that is coming up next month in South America. And so we’ve got some newer stuff, but we’re also gonna develop it more and more along the cycle of the album, because for our band, it’s very important to have these theatrical kind of images. It’s important that we offer to the people — we drag them into the vibe of the record also on the live show. It’s very important. I’m not saying everybody has to do the same. If you play maybe more hardcore music, maybe you don’t need that kind of image — you need more of a street credibility kind of image, tattoos and bandanas and other stuff — but for us, it’s important to have this more theatrical, strong impact.”Inspiration to create “Sleepless Empire” came during the sessions for “Comalies XX” (2022),the acclaimed remake of LACUNA COIL’s breakthrough third record “Comalies”. Writing and recording took place in northern Italy between Milano (the band’s hometown) and Como, where SPVN Studios are located. As with their previous albums, production was done in house with LACUNA COIL bassist Marco “Maki” Coti Zelati at the helm, and artwork was hand curated by the talented Italian artist Roberto Toderico. Two other very special talents enrich the album, namely the guest vocalists: LAMB OF GOD’s Randy Blythe on the song “Hosting The Shadow” and NEW YEARS DAY’s Ash Costello on “In The Mean Time”.Last October, Italian guitarist/producer Daniele Salomone confirmed that he has joined LACUNA COIL as the replacement for the band’s longtime guitarist Diego Cavallotti.Salomone made his live debut with LACUNA COIL on August 4, 2024 at the Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania.In June 2024, LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti’s departure. Diego, who joined LACUNA COIL in 2016, initially as a fill-in guitarist following the exit of Marco “Maus” Biazzi, later said in a social media post that “this decision is not the result of my dissatisfaction or desire to explore new opportunities.”Cavallotti and Salomone played together in the Italian metal band INVERNO, which released its debut album, “Stasis”, in December 2023.Photo credit: Cunene[embedded content]