Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
Italian goth-metal titans Lacuna Coil have released their latest EP, Sleepless Empire, led by the roaring, despotic single “Oxygen,” accompanied by a video directed by Daniele Tofani. The video stars lead vocalist and gothic heartthrob Cristina Scabbia as the visual focal point. The combination creates a strong launch for Sleepless Empire, slated for release in February 2025, which seeks to elevate the group to a new level of emotional depth while maintaining their characteristic abyssal heaviness. Exploring themes of isolation, toxicity, oppression and redemption, Sleepless Empire takes Lacuna Coil to a new plateau of creative expression, seamlessly blending these themes with their signature dualistic assault of rage and beauty, while incorporating contributions from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and Ash Costello of New Years Day.
“Oxygen,” the lead single from Sleepless Empire, is a song about the suffocating circumstances we can find ourselves in—smothered by toxicity both within and around us, struggling to keep one’s head above water and draw fresh breath amidst the chaos. Musically, the song reflects this through a driving assault of dark metal riffing and vicious deathcore-style drums. Andrea Ferro appears as a malevolent figure, with bloodied hands, delivering a hellish vocal assault with demonic guttural roars that communicate a resignation to an infernal fury. The enraged sound is then broken by Scabbia’s angelic resonance as she cuts through the bleakness to serenade the listener with soothing, melancholic seduction. This duality between extreme metal elements and melodic transcendence is reminiscent of gothic legends like Evanescence and should resonate clearly with fans.
The accompanying video features Scabbia wandering aimlessly through an oblique environment that seems to constrict her existentially, while we periodically cut to the band savagely performing within an unassuming, empty office space. The contrast suggests that the band represents a silenced internal scream of infernal anguish from Scabbia’s despairing character.
Watch the full video for “Oxygen” here:
Find the complete tracklist for Sleepless Empire, below:
Sleepless Empire Tracklist:
1. The Siege
2. Oxygen
3. Scarecrow
4. Gravity
5. I Wish You Were Dead
6. Hosting The Shadow (feat. Randy Blythe)
7. In Nomine Patris
8. Sleepless Empire
9. Sleep Paralysis
10. In The Mean Time (feat. Ash Costello)
11. Never Dawn
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