Release date: 14th October 2022
I have to admit – when I first heard that Lacuna Coil were rerecording and completely reworking their 2002 album Comalies, my first question was “why”. As one of the albums I used to listen to on heavy rotation many years ago (god, I feel old), Comalies is of massive significance to me and if something isn’t broke…why fix it?
Comalies XX is kind of difficult to describe. Whilst I am fully aware I may be viewing the piece with my nostalgia goggles, I was not massively enamoured with it on my first listen. However it is a bit of a grower (although that may be down to me constantly listening to it over the past few weeks because I really wanted to like it!) and it admittedly is a nice way to pay homage to Comalies turning 20.
Some songs work well in a new light, with Daylight Dancer being a particularly good example of it. The heavier and darker vibe really lends itself well to the track, and subsequently results in the song being one of the strongest on the album. On the other hand, later track Unspoken was a massive letdown – one of the most powerful tracks on Comalies, it lacks the sparkle its predecessor had, and the added harsh vocals take away from the hypnotic melodies that were a huge driving force in the original rendition.
Comalies XX is alright – but I definitely think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was unfamiliar with the original version and was going in completely fresh. It’s musically sound and very polished, but it doesn’t quite hold up with the 2002 release.
