In Defense of TRIP THE DARKNESS - A Song Review

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)

I do not have guilty pleasures, because I'm not a coward. But I do know when something I adore may be... contentious among the circles I run in, places where I may recommend music to folks, etc.. Given the aux, I might hesitate to put this song in the playlist, depending on my company. That being said, I must confess—I am cooler than any of these shlubs, cuz I spin "Trip the Darkness" by Lacuna Coil. Often, and mostly unironically.

Sheesh, at least me finish the review before you start preparing the cross you wanna torch me on.

As with many Lacuna Coil tracks, you don't just get the pretty damn awesome Cristina Scabbia on vocals. No, this is a band with dual singers for some reason (despite her being the only one of the two who gets put front and center in marketing stuff), and you get stuck with some other stock radio metal vocalist with a generic, gravelly voice. (His name's Andrea Ferro, and he's not that bad—check out "Kill the Light" from the same album cycle for comparison, where he holds his own much better.) I wouldn't blame you for thinking that this cut is just your standard butt metal upon his emotionless creaking. But then Scabbia breaks in, and she has so much personality in her performance, she's like Queen Goth, and the contrast between these two in talent and charisma on the mic never ceases to give me a shit-eating grin while listening. Scabbia steps up to the mic, grabs that sucker, and gives this incredibly theatrical, seductive performance that I can only imagine got more than a few goths attracted to women through puberty. And then you get to the chorus, and it reminds me of one of those cheesy, melodramatically edited fan lyric videos on YouTube. One I have watched of this exact track. It is such a sugar rush, and Scabbia nails this hook into your skull with force.

This track feels like the perfect time capsule of the late 2000's, early 2010's goth crowd—and while it may make me giggle, back when this initially dropped... I was still listening to Skillet and Five Finger Mud Pie. So to any emos from this time who may feel personally attacked while reading: "But doctor, I am Pagliacci."

"Trip the Darkness" gets a 5/5. It is so fun. Ironically, unironically... either way, or a bit of both, it just rips. A product of its time, no doubt, but I'd say one well worth keeping around in your playlist. There are days and times where all I want to listen to is this exact era of Lacuna Coil, and that's not for nothing.

Fantastic

Summary:

A potent mix of melodramatic, emo, horny, hooky, ridiculous, and ridiculously fun, "Trip the Darkness" is still absurdly amusing regardless of how much you pretend you're just listening to it ironically.