Following the deserved approbation of their previous album, 2019's Black Anima, the band stumbled a little by rerecording probably their most beloved record in 2002's Comalies, giving it a badly-received modern makeover, downtuning the guitars, messing with the harmonies, and all with a plastic production that made it sound immediately dated. It wasn't just unnecessary, it was downright harmful; far from, say, the respectful re-examination that Max Cavalera has given his early Sepultura output over the past couple of years. Thank god that the original still exists! In any case, Lacuna Coil faced an uphill struggle in recovering fan goodwill for their next album, and the departure of guitarist Diego Cavallotti in 2024 wasn't a great sign, nor was the fact that instead of a replacement Marco Coti Zolati added guitar duties to his already full schedule of bass, keyboards, and production duty...

And although Sleepless Empire is in many ways a solid follow-up to Black Anima, you can hear its flaws immediately in the muddy production that makes much of the instrumentation a murky gloop, not to mention the simplistic, basic guitars that do little other than churn or chug. It's a shame as the songwriting is generally solid, mixing the heavier Paradise Lost-lite style of late with a little more Comalies-era gothic atmosphere. Opener The Siege bursts in with a real punch of dark energy, Cristina's airy vocals adding grandeur to the gloom - as usual Ms Scabbia being the MVP of the Lacuna Coil sound! She directs Scarecrow, making Andrea's growls more impactful when they arrive, and effortlessly lifts the song with the soaring chorus. And In Nomine Patris benefits from some spooky witch-chants here and there to give its gothic chug that bit of extra creepiness, although it is a little repetitive.

Bigger flaws are found elsewhere, however. Oxygen has a great chorus but a weak, messy verses which the production does absolutely zero favours for. Gravity relies a bit too much on electronic backing and comes dangerously close to falling back to Korn-wannabe territory, saved again by Cristina's vocal performance. I Wish You Were Dead is catchy enough but stands out for its more rock-based vibe and much shorter running time, at under three minutes finishing before it really makes an impact. And why did the band even bother to get Randy Blythe of Lamb of God fame and Ash Costello of New Years Day to guest (on Hosting the Shadow and In the Mean Time respectively)? Neither provides a vocal contribution especially different from Andrea's snarls and Cristina's singing so even if you notice them (and not all will!) it seems a rather pointless exercise!

Without a doubt the best moments here are when the band are fully embracing their gothic heritage, such as the sections of the title track led by Cristina or the atmospheric melancholy of Sleep Paralysis. The opening to finale Never Dawn works well enough (even with the incorporation of that already dated "run!" meme) but the subsequent instrumentation is juddering and studio-messed-with enough to verge on dubstep! It improves once Cristina arrives with the by-this-point expected epic chorus, yet this is something that really could have and should have been better. Some will find this focus on the production and the actual sound of the band a little unfair yet it really is distracting while listening. Although formulaic at points Lacuna Coil's songwriting skills are more than expert enough to bend the ear, and you find yourself wanting to like this album more than you actually end up doing. A score on the generous side; some of these songs are worthy of being amongst the band's best if better presented.