ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 23, 2007
By Steve Newton
The latest issue of Revolver screams: “The Hottest Chicks in Metal!”, and the female pulchritude displayed on the cover makes it clear that the world’s loudest rock magazine has targeted the Maxim demographic. Marta Peterson of Bleeding Through and Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil are shown lounging about in full-on cathouse garb.
The singer-as-sexpot layout doesn’t faze Lacuna Coil guitarist Cristiano Migliore, who’s fine with the fact that his band’s sexiest member gets all the glory.
“When a band that plays metal or rock has a girl singing in it, everybody’s very curious,” he points out, on the line from a South Carolina stop on the Hottest Chicks in Metal tour. “Obviously the press has always been very attentive, and they ask to talk to her a lot, but it doesn’t really bother us. In the beginning it was harder, because all the attention was on her, but it’s changed a lot because people actually realized that there’s more behind the image–there’s good music and a band that needs each other to accomplish what we’re doing.
“So I think it’s totally cool and normal that she’s always the centre of attention. When a magazine like Revolver covers the hottest chicks of metal, of course you’re gonna have Cristina on the cover; you cannot put me or Andrea or Marco there.”
It’s doubtful that Migliore or any of his four male bandmates–covocalist Andrea Ferro, bassist-keyboardist Marco Coti Zelati, lead guitarist Marco Biazzi, and drummer Cristiano Mozzati–would be nearly as fetching in the red leather dress and black stiletto heels that Scabbia dons on the Revolver cover. Although the voluptuous singer is the group’s obvious focal point, the fact that she and Ferro share lead vocals helps set the sextet apart from the hordes of metal acts vying for the spotlight.
“At first Marco and Andrea brought Cristina into the band because they wanted to have some backing vocals,” explains Migliore, “but it sounded so good that they just thought, ‘Oh wow, let’s have her as a lead singer as well.’ In the end we found the right formula for our band.”
In its formative days in the late 1990s, Lacuna Coil–which has so far released two EPs and four CDs, including its latest full-length offering, Karmacode–played up the goth angle that has paid dividends for bands like Evanescence. But according to Migliore, the group’s death-doom aspect has diminished over time.
“When we started it was nearly 10 years ago,” he says, “and of course we were listening to [darker] bands like the Gathering and Paradise Lost. So obviously it influenced our music, but I wouldn’t call us gothic-metal, or anything like that, anymore.”
Karmacode is actually more prog-metal than anything else; its intense yet melodic vibe recalls Queensrÿche’s adventurous Operation: Mindcrime.
“We learned to improve our songwriting throughout the years,” says Migliore, whose band plays the Croatian Cultural Centre on May 28. “If you listen to Karmacode, I wouldn’t say that we’ve softened up; it’s probably the heaviest album we’ve ever written. But it’s also, as you say, accessible because of the way we write. Even when we have really heavy guitars, or very heavy music, we try to write songs in a way that people can recognize the chorus or the verse or whatever.”
While things have gone well for Lacuna Coil in recent years, with increased CD sales and appearances on prestigious metal tours like Ozzfest, the band has had to overcome its share of adversity. For one thing, it hails from Milan, Italy, which isn’t exactly a hotbed of ear-bustin’ sounds.
“In Italy rock is not very popular,” notes Migliore. “I mean, it’s not part of the culture. There is a big underground scene, but melodic Italian music is the most popular music you can listen to there, so when a band like us tries to come out and play, it’s really hard. That’s also why we actually got bigger abroad before we made it in Italy. We had to come all the way to the United States to become popular, and then after that Italy discovered us.”
At their upcoming Vancouver show, the three groups on the bill with Lacuna Coil are fronted by female vocalists, so don’t be surprised if your view of the stage gets blocked by hot-chick-seeking shutterbugs freelancing for Revolver.
To hear the full audio of my 2007 interview with Cristiano Migliore subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 650 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with:
Don Wilson of the Ventures, 1997
Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, 1998
Trevor Rabin of Yes, 1984
Albert Lee, 1986
Yngwie Malmsteen, 1985
Robert Cray, 1996
Tony Carey, 1984
Ian Hunter, 1988
Kate Bush, 1985
Jeff Healey, 1988
Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, 1993
Colin Linden, 1993
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, 1995
Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, 1986
Elliot Easton from the Cars, 1996
Wayne Kramer from the MC5, 2004
Bob Rock, 1992
Nick Gilder, 1985
Roy Buchanan, 1988
Klaus Meine of Scorpions, 1988
Jason Bonham, 1989
Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, 1991
Joey Spampinato of NRBQ, 1985
Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, 2003
Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, 2003
Steve Kilbey of the Church, 1990
Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde, 1990
Randy Hansen, 2001
Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, 1984
Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam, 2007
Jimmy Barnes from Cold Chisel, 1986
Steve Stevens of Atomic Playboys, 1989
Billy Idol, 1984
Stuart Adamson of Big Country, 1993
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, 1992
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 1998
John Bell of Widespread Panic, 1992
Robben Ford, 1993
Barry Hay of Golden Earring, 1984
Jason Isbell, 2007
Joe Satriani, 1990
Brad Delp of Boston, 1988
John Sykes of Blue Murder, 1989
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, 1998
Alice Cooper, 1986
Lars Ulrich of Metallica, 1985
Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, 1992
Myles Goodwyn of April Wine, 2001
John Mellencamp, 1999
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1999
Kenny Aronoff, 1999
Jon Bon Jovi, 1986
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1992
Little Steven, 1987
Stevie Salas, 1990
J.J. Cale, 2009
Joe Bonamassa, 2011
Rob Baker of the Tragically Hip, 1997
Tommy Emmanuel, 1994
John Petrucci of Dream Theater, 2010
Eric Johnson, 2001
Stu Hamm, 1991
Gene Simmons of Kiss, 1992
Ace Frehley from Kiss, 2008
David Lee Roth, 1994
Allan Holdsworth, 1983
John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, 1988
Steve Vai, 1990
Tony Iommi of Heaven and Hell, 2007
Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1996
Geoff Tate of Queensryche, 1991
James Hetfield of Metallica, 1986
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990
Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites, 1988
Andy McCoy and Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, 1984
Steve Morse, 1991
Slash of Guns N’ Roses, 1994
Brian May from Queen, 1993
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1991
Jake E. Lee of Badlands, 1992
Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1997
John Fogerty, 1997
Joe Perry of Aerosmith, 1987
Rick Derringer, 1999
Robin Trower, 1990
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, 1994
Geddy Lee of Rush, 2002
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult, 1997
Michael Schenker, 1992
Vince Neil of Motley Crue, 1991
Vinnie Paul of Pantera, 1992
Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, 1988
Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, 1989
Rob Halford of Judas Priest, 1984
Bill Henderson of Chilliwack, 1999
Paul Rodgers, 1997
R.L. Burnside, 1999
Guthrie Govan of the Aristocrats, 2015
Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe, 1985
Carlos Santana, 2011
Walter Trout, 2003
Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot, 1983
Tommy Aldridge, 2001
Donald “Duck” Dunn, 1985
Mark Farner of Grand Funk, 1991
Chris Robinson of Black Crowes, 1990
Jennifer Batten, 2002
Mike Fraser, 2014
Leo Kottke, 2002
Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, 2002
David Gogo, 1991
Booker T. Jones, 2016
Link Wray, 1997
James Reyne from Australian Crawl, 1988
Mike Rutherford of Genesis, 1983
Buddy Guy, 1991
Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, 1990
Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers, 2016
Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1986
Lindsay Mitchell of Prism, 1988
Buddy Miles, 2001
Eddie Money, 1988
Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, 1983
Gaye Delorme, 1990
Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, 1984
Graham Bonnet of Alcatrazz, 1984
Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, 2016
Doc Neeson of Angel City, 1985
Rik Emmett of Triumph, 1985
Sonny Landreth, 2016
Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders, 2016
Jeff Beck, 2001
Albert King, 1990
Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, 1992
Peter Frampton, 1987
Otis Rush, 1997
Leslie West of Mountain, 2002
Steve Howe of Yes, 2017
Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, 1983
Uli Jon Roth, 2016
Poison Ivy of the Cramps, 1990
Greg Lake of ELP, 1992
Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson of AC/DC, 1983
Warren Zevon, 1992
Tal Wilkenfeld, 2016
Steve Clark of Def Leppard, 1988
Roy Buchanan, 1986
Gary Moore, 1984
Ronnie Montrose, 1994
Danny Gatton, 1993
Alex Lifeson of Rush, 1992
Ann Wilson of Heart, 1985
J.J. Cale, 1990
Yngwie Malmsteen, 2014
Chris Cornell, 2008
Long John Baldry, 1985
Allan Holdsworth, 1983
Kim Mitchell, 1984
Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers, 1994
Derek Trucks, 1998
Susan Tedeschi, 1998
Joe Satriani, 2018
B.B. King, 1984
Albert Collins, 1985
Ronnie James Dio, 1985
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, 1984
Dick Dale, 2000
Greg Allman, 1998
Dickey Betts, 2001
…with hundreds more to come
Discover more from earofnewt.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
