Rob caught up with Cristiano Migliore from Lacuna Coil to talk about their forthcoming album 'Dark Adrenaline', their current tour and much more.

You have announced that your next studio album is called ‘Dark Adrenaline’ and it is out on the 23rd January, what else can you tell us about the album?
Cristiano "Pizza" Migliore) We started writing the songs after the last UK tour, we had some stuff ready and started recording in April in Milan, with our producer Don Gilmore, who did shallow life and stuff. This around we wanted to have more of a darker mood, shallow life was a bit experimental, we tried to do a lot of stuff we hadn't done before, so we wanted to keep some of the new elements but also add some of darker influences from our previous albums, and I think people will really enjoy it because its really like a fusion between the two things and were really happy with the results.

What themes and stories are featured within the album? And how would you say it compares to your previous albums?
Its about personal experiences for Christina and Andrea, they handle all the lyrical content, There's not really a specific theme to this album, but we wanted to keep a dark theme to the lyrics, ithe general vibe of the album is darker.

I understand that ‘Dark Adrenaline’ has had a few delays, what was the reason behind this?
Its more of a record industry reason, they need time to prepare the promotion of the album, and after listening to the album, they really wanted to do something more with the release of the album, we wanted to release it in October but they needed more time to get it right. We have a single out which is doing well, we thought the delay was a good move, we cant wait for the album to come out so we can play more stuff, but we understand that if we do a better job in promotion it could work much better than it would otherwise.

The album was produced by Don Gilmore again, what is it about Don which makes you want to keep working with him?
The first time we worked with him on shallow life we had a really good time, he's a wonderful person and a great producer, he's not someone who pushes you to do certain things, he's someone who's respectful of a bands music, so we thought he would be the right person to do this album as well, we sent him some demos, which he loved so he decided to come over to Italy to work with us again, we didn't change much from the demos but obviously changed bits to make them better and to really polish the songs, overall the music is what it was before, he just changed the structure of the songs, he's very open minded and tries to follow what the band does.

You are currently back in the UK on a massive tour which sees you play pretty much every town and city across the UK, are you looking forward to certain shows more than others?
I would t say so, when we go to say the UK or the rest of Europe of the US, its always great, as you play in front of your own fans, so its not that different from place to place , as they love the band and music.

Straight Line Stitch are supporting you, were they hand picked by you and how have you found touring with them?
It was a management decision, we've only played 4 shows together so far, but its going great, we know Chris from the SLS, we know him from tours from in the US and we didn't actually know he was in this band till we got together, but its great. We usually don't hand pick bands that tour with us we like to have a lot of diversity on our tours, it doesn't matter if they play different music to us or the same, the main thing overall, is that the tour package is really good and is interesting for the people watching and to discover new bands.

How have the shows been so far?
I must say really good, we've had a lot of packed venues and the crowds have been amazing, we did a 8 italian shows before we came here, to warm up, we played in places other than Milan and Rome which was nice, smaller shows than this , I was like playing in the old days, we got in a van and drove ourselves to places, we went back to our roots as it were and reminded us of where we came from and where we are now, it was cool for our fans to to play in a smaller venue.

I understand you have been playing a number of new songs, how have they been going down at the shows?
Really good, the new single has been out for a few weeks, its had amazing reactions, people seem to like the mix of our newer and older stuff, we also play another song that hasn't been released yet, which has been getting great reactions also, overall I think what we did on shallow life was a little too experimental for some fans, so this time it wasn't something we decided to do, it came naturally to us.

Once this tour comes to an end you are not back on the road until just after the album is released, Will you be taking a much earned break during this time?
Basically were taking a break, enjoying Christmas, recovering and getting ready for the next tour which is in the US with Megadeth , Motorhead and Volbeat.

What would you say your main highs and lows from your musical career has been so far?
I dunno about lows, as our career has always been on the up, its not like we exploded big and then did nothing happened, we've been growing constantly, with each album we do something different, its been exciting and touring with great bands, the lows is just being on tour away from your friends and family, but its part of the deal, you get to tour and play the music you love but there's always a catch. But were thankful for what we get to do.

You are from Italy, how would you say the alternative music scene is there, and what Italian bands would you recommend?
There are a lot of good bands, the problem with Italy is that rock music is not main stream and very underground, it gets little airplay, your not gonna be able to do much if you plan on making it in Italy, that's why we decided on singing in English and got signed in another country. We toured with a band called Kane in Italy, the guitarist of which used to be in Lacuna Coil at the beginning, and there really good and really rocked the house live, The problem with record labels, magazines and radio stations is that there not interested in rock bands as its not profitable.

What’s your take on the digital revelation killing off the music business?
I think its evolving right now, There's good and bad things right now, the bad thing is no one knows what's happening, record company s and bands are like we don't know what to do, no ones buying CDs any more but everyone's buying off itunes, but some aren't buying the whole album just the tracks they like, I think the main disadvantage is just that people don't know what to do yet, There's not a rule that tells how people to do things a certain way, there are bands that are putting there album on the net for free because so people can get to know them but people will not go and buy a physical copy, its why a lot of bands stay on tour to make a living. A lot of it is the industry seeing what needs to be done and how to evolve as there still trying to do things the old way without the money which isn't going into finding new talent

Where do you hope to see Lacuna Coil in a year’s time?
I'm pretty sure we will be on the road on the touring cycle for the next album.

Do you have a message for your fans reading this?
I really hope our fans enjoy the new album as much as we do, and we really cant wait for them to hear it, There's a lot of stuff in there that will surprise people in a good way and we hope to see you out on the road at a show really soon.

Interview by Robert Lawrence