Kristyn Clarke had an opportunity to catch up with Lacuna Coil vocalist Andrea Ferro to chat about the new album, the band's music direction, upcoming touring plans and more!

Q: You new album "Dark Adrenaline" is set for release on 1/24, are there any details you can share with our site audience at PopCultureMadness.com about the album?

Andrea Ferro: It is a mature album for us, where we have been trying to keep some of the signature sound from previous albums with some darker atmospheres. We wanted the album to be fresh and sound like a record for 2012. We have been working a lot on the production to keep some of the songs with those themes while also combining with more modern rhythmical patterns or modern sound arrangements to sound fresh and contemporary. It is a good collection of songs, there are some very powerful tunes as well as some more anthemic songs with big choruses, and some ballads all with a darker atmosphere overall.

Q: Do you feel that your sound is constantly evolving?

AF: Yeah, that is what we try to do. We don't want to repeat ourselves all the time and we also think to find your more personal sound you have to kind of contaminate your sound with every album. Every album we try to introduce some sort of new element to play and then see the results. Sometime we take some chances and people like it or people don't like it so, even for us we learn something with every album. There could be some things that we are going to bring on the next one or some stuff we are just going to throw out and go in another direction. From the last one for example, we were learning a lot and we were missing a bit of the heaviness from certain songs especially during the live shows so we decided to put more power into this one with faster songs and faster beats to have that kind of power again on the live show especially.

Q: How do you feel about the comments that this album is a throwback to your original roots? Do you agree with that assessment?

AF: Yeah, I think it is a combination of some of our signature sound like in albums from the band like "Karmacode" or "Comalies" but also there are some new elements that are connected to that and are mixed up so even if you listen to the first single for example "Trip The Darkness" it is a song where you can certainly recognize the band but also there is some different stuff. The structure of the song is very fluent like we have been doing recently and also the lyrics have been more straight to the point and there are all the elements that you can recognize a song from Lacuna Coil but there is also the freshness of the production and there are the heavier rhythmical parts from the guitar and the drums. We have been trying to combine our history with the new direction for 2012.

Q: What was it like working with producer Don Gilmore?

AF: He is a very cool guy and a friend. We had been working together on the previous album "Shallow Life" and that was the very first time that we met him and we worked with him so we have been learning a lot and discovered where he was giving the best to our music and where we don't actually need him. For example, we mixed "Shallow Life" and he was coming from a more rock environment so this time around we wanted a more powerful album so we decided to mix it with somebody else and we just worked with him on the production and the lyrics, more of the structure of the songs. It has been helpful because he really is the guy that can bring the right attention in the studio when it is time to record, but he is also the kind of guy that can put the pressure out when you need to relax and you are stuck somewhere and you need to find something else to do to clear your mind and then come back to the song later on. He is a very funny person to work with and I really like him as a person too!

Q: Was there anything particularly challenging about the recording process for "Dark Adrenaline"?

AF: Yeah, I think that you learn every time you enter a studio. You learn something and you challenge yourself a little bit more especially on the songwriting. It can be hard to do some different kind of stuff to make it interesting and then you have to do it in the studio in the proper way so it takes a lot of focus and we are also the kind of band that always looks forward. We are always looking to improve and become better singers and musicians and have something new to offer to the people. It is very important for us to pay attention and to have challenges at everything we do to always keep that fire and passion for music. If you don't have that then this kind of lifestyle is not worth anything.

Q: Of course. I am absolutely loving the "Trip The Darkness"video. Are there any stories you can share with me about the video shoot? How did you come up with the concept?

AF: We had some different proposals from different directors and this one was from a British director that we really liked. It is a very simple video with the concept between white and black but we really liked the fact that we could do a very visual video even without a huge budget. There is not that much money for videos anymore, we had a very simple idea and a very good visual and I really like the way that it turned out. It shows both aspects with the positive and the negative which are parts of everyone's lives. We are not always happy and we are not always sad or gothic or something like that, we like to live our life as an experience. It is showing that life is made of contrasts and that is perfect for the lyrics of the song too.

Q: Can we chat about the upcoming Gigantour that starts on 1/26? Are you looking forward to the tour? You have been on it before, correct?

AF: Yeah, we are looking forward to it, we will be coming to the states in a week or so to start the promotion and then go right into the tour. I think the combination of styles between all the band's playing will mesh pretty well and there is something for everybody. If you like more melodic stuff or more straight-forward stuff, there is something there for every taste. We are honored to be part of such as great line-up and it is the perfect way to start the promotion to come on the tour in North America and travel around and do all the promo for the radio and the people. There are all kinds of activities we can do and it is just the perfect kick-off for the promotion of the album and the album will be out a couple of days right before the tour starts so it really came with the perfect timing and Dave from Megadeth is a friend because we have toured together in Australia a few years ago and he offered us this great opportunity that we couldn't refuse.

Q: That really is ideal timing!

AF: It is perfect. We will probably be coming back later on in the year to do a headliner tour once the album has been out for a few months but not it is just the perfect choice to do this tour.

Q: That's great and we will certainly be looking forward to checking out the first night of the tour in Camden, NJ on 1/26!

AF: We like that fact that the tour is traveling all across the country and giving us the opportunity to play, not everywhere, but in a lot of places.

Q: Is there any area in particular that are looking forward to visiting?

AF: To be honest, we have always been very well received all across the country so we look forward to the entire tour because it is all places we haven't been in awhile and we know we have people following us. It is cool to go there and see faces you don't see very often and introduce some new people to the band. It is a great opportunity.

Q: What are some of your goals for 2012, other than the Gigantour and album promotion of course?

AF: Mostly it is touring and promoting the album. We are going to this tour and they we are probably going to go back to Italy and then we are going to do South America with Lamb Of God and Hatebreed followed by a headlining tour of the U.S. then in May we will head back to Europe to start the festival season here and try to be on as many festivals as possible. At the end of September we are looking to do the European headline tour and the probably go to the gigs in places like Japan, Australia, India, all those territories which are different and then maybe we will be ready to write some new songs.

Q: Wow! You have definitely got it all lined up! That is great to hear!

AF: Yeah, more or less. Things can always change a little bit but that is the basic idea of how it is going to be. It is mostly touring!

Q: How do you best pass the time on the road?

AF: It depends where we are...if we are near a city then we try to go see something or do something to see what we can and then maybe meet some friends on a day off for dinner and do some more relaxing stuff…go to the mall buy something, just do something to clear your mind and keep it fresh as much as you can because sometimes you are just in a parking lot somewhere out of the city so there is not much you can do other than go on the internet or stay near the venue or watch a movie on the bus. It is cool when you actually have the chance to do something out of the bus.

Q: I can imagine! Personally, I like to look at music as a universal language that we can all speak and understand. Is there anything in particular that you hope your music says to listeners?

AF: I think music is something very magical and we get emails or messages on Facebook that say how much our songs have been helping them or how they have been the soundtrack over a specific moment in their lives and we don't know that, meaning we don't recognize that when we write music. We write the music because we like it and we have this idea and we want to bring it out but we don't expect people to get it so deeply. We have people coming with tattoos of lyrics or the signature of the band or the logo of the band then you recognize how much music has meaning for them even more than you ever expected. For us it is we are done this song and now we are going to tour it is our job or passion basically but for some people music is way deeper than that and they really take it very personal and they care a lot, and it has always surprised me that people even in different areas of the world have the same feelings about music, and as you said it is really a language that everyone can understand and everyone has a particular language that they like or admire.

Q: Thanks so much for taking the time out to speak with me!

AF: Thanks a lot! Hopefully we will see you on the road!

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www.lacunacoil.it

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