Inspiration to create “Sleepless Empire” came during the sessions for “Comalies XX” (2022),the acclaimed remake of LACUNA COIL‘s breakthrough third record “Comalies”. Writing and recording took place in northern Italy between Milano (the band’s hometown) and Como, where SPVN Studios are located. As with their previous albums, production was done in house with Marco “Maki” Coti Zelati at the helm, and artwork was hand curated by the talented Italian artist Roberto Toderico. Two other very special talents enrich the album, namely the guest vocalists: LAMB OF GOD‘s Randy Blythe on the song “Hosting The Shadow” and NEW YEARS DAY‘s Ash Costello on “In The Mean Time”.

As a token of the band’s love for the gaming world (which we’ve seen in past endeavors such as their card game “Horns Up” and their collaboration with Zombicide for which they wrote the track “Never Dawn”),the band have created an oracle “game” to be played with custom made dice available only in the box set version of “Sleepless Empire”.

The new album is comprised of 11 tracks; each one is a richly textured soundtrack to a specific time and place. With “Sleepless Empire”, that place is dark, cinematic, and unmistakably true to the unique characteristics that have given LACUNA COIL such a celebrated entry in the annals of heavy music.

The band previously shared: “‘Sleepless Empire’ captures, through our eyes, the chaos of a generation trapped in a digital world that never stops, where social media consumes identity and every day pushes us one step closer to becoming soulless zombies. We find ourselves in between, having witnessed a full analogic world and the modern one, confronting the evolution and searching for a true meaning of it all. Throughout every song, the journey is an undercurrent of rebellion, a desperate cry to reclaim oneself in an era that seems to have lost its sense of time and reality.”

“Sleepless Empire” track listing

01. The Siege
02. Oxygen
03. Scarecrow
04. Gravity
05. I Wish You Were Dead
06. Hosting The Shadow (feat. Randy Blythe)
07. In Nomine Patris
08. Sleepless Empire
09. Sleep Paralysis
10. In The Mean Time (feat. Ash Costello)
11. Never Dawn

This past October, Italian guitarist/producer Daniele Salomone confirmed that he has joined LACUNA COIL as the replacement for the band’s longtime guitarist Diego Cavallotti.

Salomone made his live debut with LACUNA COIL on August 4, 2024 at the Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania.

This past June, LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti‘s departure. Diego, who joined LACUNA COIL in 2016, initially as a fill-in guitarist following the exit of Marco “Maus” Biazzi, later said in a social media post that “this decision is not the result of my dissatisfaction or desire to explore new opportunities.”

When LACUNA COIL announced Cavallotti‘s exit on June 17, the band wrote in a statement: “As we step into a new cycle, writing and recording our next album, we are parting ways with Diego ‘DD’ Cavallotti. We thank him for the many unforgettable moments shared over the years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.

“All future live plans remain unchanged and the new songs are taking form, we can’t wait to share them with our fans.”

Cavallotti and Salomone played together in the Italian metal band INVERNO, which released its debut album, “Stasis”, in December 2023.