Lacuna Coil not afraid to evolve, knowing ‘we can’t please everyone’

“It is impossible to be liked by everyone. There is not one single band or artist in the world in history that everyone loves, so why should I worry,” Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia told The Salt Lake Tribune in a recent phone call from Montréal.

She was specifically referring to mental-retrograde keyboard warriors’ opinions on female-fronted metal acts, but the sentiment could be more broadly applied to the direction of her band in general.

The Italian gothic-metal outfit’s lineup is significantly different than it was just a few short years ago, with longtime guitarists Cristiano Migliore and Marco Biazzi and longtime drummer Cristiano Mozzati all having departed since 2014. Meanwhile, the group’s latest album, 2016’s “Delirium,” took a turn toward a darker and heavier sound, with the music displaying some metalcore tendencies, and Scabbia’s counterpart, Andrea Ferro, employing scream vocals more than ever before.

Scabbia knows the changes haven’t gone over well with everyone. She also knows she can’t worry about that.

“We just start writing and we follow the inspiration. … The most important thing is that we have to like the music, because we don’t write for others. We’re not afraid to evolve or do something that is not typically our style,” she said. “And we know that we can’t please everyone. So we know that with every record, there will be some fans that stay with us, there will be some fans who are interested in something else, there will be fans that will say, ‘Oh, I don’t like it anymore,’ there will be haters. But we don’t think about those people — we care about the core, and this is the band. The band has to be happy about the record, because we are the ones that are gonna play the songs live for years to come.”

Lacuna Coil is on tour serving as direct support for Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, including this Saturday at The Complex in Salt Lake City.

In the meantime, Scabbia wants uneasy fans to recognize that much about the band is still the same, while also considering the possibility that some change is not inherently a bad thing.

“The benefits are we found new members who are even more excited to be in the band. They’re bringing a lot of new energy and a great mindset for the rest of us who’ve been there from Day 1,” she said of guitarist Diego Cavallotti and drummer Ryan Blake Folden. “In terms of songwriting, nothing changed, because it was still Marco [Coti Zelati], the bass player, responsible for the majority of the music, and Andrea and I for the vocal melodies and lyrics.”

Biazzi’s departure right before the band was set to begin recording “Delirium” — a concept album of sorts revolving around the theme of mental illness and the premise of a “sanatorium in north Italy where every room would have a patient that was telling a story” — was an obvious problem, with no more full-time guitarists in the lineup at the time.

The issue was partly solved by Zelati, the primary songwriter, recording not only the bass parts but the guitar ones as well. The challenge also presented an opportunity.

The band already long had been toying with the idea of bringing in some ringer six-stringers to augment a few songs. So this proved “the perfect occasion to invite some people that we admire and that we like, friends, to our record to do some solos to make the record even more dynamic,” Scabbia said.

Guest spots included Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, Mark Vollelunga of Nothing More, and “other friends from Milano,” including Cavallotti, who would ultimately wind up with the gig full-time.

The band was happy with the end result. And Scabbia hopes that, even if some fans weren’t, perhaps at least they can appreciate that Lacuna Coil, after almost 20 years of existence, is still striving for creativity rather than blindly adhering to a formula that worked before.

“People are not stupid. They understand if you are not honest in what you do and if you are so lazy to redo the same thing over and over,” she said. “I don’t want to believe that an artist or a musician don’t want to change a bit and experiment a bit.”

Meanwhile, she’s grateful for those who simply gave the album a chance and the band another opportunity.

“I just want to thank whoever took a listen to ‘Delirium,’ whoever purchased it. I thank them very much, because I realize every day how lucky I am to do what I love for a living,” Scabbia said. “I’m really blessed, and very thankful to whoever’s supporting us. So thank you very much. That’s all I can say!”