Finally... 'Dark Adrenaline'

*choir of angels singing as Fangirl gets medicated* I swear it's not toxic!

A new album by a band I love that doesn't suck? About time! Congrats, Lacuna Coil.

Thankfully earlier fears after hearing "Trip the Darkness" and "Kill the Light" were eased very quickly. This album cuts the happy, uplifting alternative rock from Shallow Life and combines the intensity of Karmacode and the atmosphere of Comalies.

But if this was released in 2006 and not Karmacode, this would have been a less radical evolution of the band. Dark Adrenaline feels like a step backwards in this sense - no, more like a patch to fix a game that initially released with glitches. This is not a really bad thing (video games are far more pricey than music after all) but it feels like this album was released as a late apology note for pissing off the fans with Karmacode.

Yet on the other hand, this can also be seen as the band getting back on track. They may have stubbled with their last two albums, but now this is their comeback. However any Lacuna Coil fan sees this, I think both ideas may be true, but I agree with this point more.

 I never hated Karmacode, and I like that Dark Adrenaline takes its aggressive style and improves it (ex: "Against You" and "Upsidedown".) Even some songs remind me of those from Unleashed Memories, In a Reverie, and Comalies, such as "The End of Time" and "My Spirit", due to the dark, sad atmosphere present. The band itself is not known for giving impressive guitar solos or award-winning singing, but everyone has improved significantly. Some songs start off with far more interesting riffs and evolve into far less repetitive noise. Some melodies still feel a bit ripped from songs from Shallow Life such as "Intoxicated" and "Fire", but lyrically they sound far less cheery and cheap. Singer Andrea sounds his best in "The Army Inside", where he practically steals the show with the badass chorus.

Even "Losing my Religion" isn't that bad. I always liked the REM song when I was a child and I thank Lacuna Coil for reminding me of my love for the original. Though the lyrics are arranged differently for some strange reason, this is not a bad cover. I find the original to be quite melancholic and Lacuna Coil captured it very well.

I can probably list every song off the album and can say they all are fantastic. If you were never charmed by Lacuna Coil, give Dark Adrenaline a try. It's a fair compromise for the old and new sounds of Lacuna Coil to create a very fulfilling album. Three months later and it still sounds great.

Various editions of the release have "Soul Inmate" as a bonus track. The iTunes pre-order version had live acoustic tracks, "Soul Inmate", and the "Trip the Darkness" music video. Some editions also had mini short films in what's known as Dark Passengers. Just additional fun facts.

5 out of 5!