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By JEFF MAKI
Visual Karma is the first-ever DVD release by the popular Italian metal band Lacuna Coil. Centering around their 2006 album, Karmacode, the DVD comprises two discs. The first disc features live performances from the Wacken Open Air Festival 2007 in Germany and Loudpark 2007 in Japan. The Wacken performance is shot during broad daylight and doesn't do the band complete justice. The sound mix is great for an outdoor venue and the set is solid, with almost half of it representing songs from Karmacode. The massive crowd is bewildering (my god, how many people were there?), especially for those of us in the United States, who probably won't experience any metal festival of thismagnitude in our lifetimes. Seeing Cristina Scabbia in all her fierce, gothic beauty running around with her bandmates in the sunny daylight reminded me of the first time I saw Lacuna Coil live at Ozzfest 2004, at 9:30 in the morning. That's a show I'll never forget. Despite the tight performance, you almost get the sense that the crowd is unattentive at times and is waiting for the bigger acts of the day's lineup.
The other live show on disc one is from Japan's Loudpark Festival 2007, held annually at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, Japan. This time the band is seen in its natural habitat, under the cover of darkness. Outdoor festivals can be fun, but there's just something about seeing one of your favorite bands in a true concert setting--a club, arena or nighttime show, complete with flashing strobes, smoke, colored lights, costumes, makeup, etc. The contrast between the two shows is great. Save for songs appearing in both sets, it's almost like two different bands playing. Though the sound here is not as good and the set is only half of Wacken's, I enjoyed this part of the DVD more. I only wish “Heaven's A Lie” and some more songs were here.
Also included on disc one are the promo clips for “Our Truth,” “Enjoy the Silence,” “Closer” and “Within Me.”
The second disc lets fans into the personal world of Lacuna Coil. No, it's not your typical drunken band DVD, playing stupid pranks on each other and making fools of themselves. Each band member has a min-documentary, ranging from Cristina's charity efforts to build wells in drought-stricken areas of Africa, to Andrea's scenic tour of Milan, Italy, to comical, handshot footage of the days-in-the-lives of other band members. Also included is behind the scenes footage of their Austrailia Tour 2007, their first time in Japan and the making of the “Our Truth” and “Closer” videos.
I understand that this DVD coincides with Karmacode, but I'm sure Lacuna Coil has a vault of live footage and material from their breakthrough album Comalies. I think they should have at least added a show from that period in their career and added the promo videos for that album. Aren't they just going to collect dust otherwise? After all, that was the album that introduced half of their fans to the band. In a way, even after the release of Karmacode, they're still riding that success today.
All griping aside, Visual Karma is worth the purchase if you're a diehard Lacuna Coil fan. There's a little bit of everything on the two-disc set and it's available in multiple formats (one of which includes the live shows on CD). It'll also help you get your much-needed Cristina-fix, at least for a couple hours.
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