The year is young, but it's already been quite the roller-coaster ride for Lacuna Coil. Not only are the Italian metallers gearing up for the release of the new album ‘Broken Crown Halo’ (due out April 1), they recently announced the retirement of their longtime guitarist Cris “Pizza” Migliore and drummer Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati. Not to mention, Lacuna Coil are also a part of Revolver’s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock Tour.

During their stop in New York City we had the chance to sit down with co-singer Cristina Scabbia before their meet and greet with fans at Irving Plaza. She speaks sincerely about the retirement of her two former bandmates as well as Lacuna Coil’s evolution and plans to move forward. Scabbia also discusses about the new album ‘Broken Crown Halo’ and admits she doesn't think of herself as "hot" (although most fans would strongly disagree). Check out our interview with Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil below:

Lacuna Coil are currently on the Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock tour. What are your thoughts on the evolution of women in metal and hard rock, as well as being recognized as one of the "hottest chicks" on the scene?

I come from Europe and in Europe it’s been something normal for a lot more years. When we started it was around 1998 or 1997 and there were bands with females in the lineup like Within Temptation, Nightwish, different bands. It was something more accepted, something more normal even if it was a smaller scene. Now, I’m really happy to see on this side of the world that things changed a lot.

I feel weird to be associated with it because I still have to figure out what “hot” means. Sometimes there is a little bit of confusion. I don’t understand if it’s like physically attractive or hot because of your personality -- I still have to figure that out. I don’t really consider myself hot but of course I’m happy that somebody doesn’t think I’m the gnarliest, ugliest woman on earth. It’s appreciated but I still keep a little bit of distance. The name of the tour is taken from the annual issue of Revolver Magazine, you’re not going to see strippers onstage or anything like that.

Onstage, the band has always seemed like a group where the members are such a tight unit. When guitarist Cris “Pizza” Migliore and drummer Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati came to you with the decision to retire, what did you think and feel?

Honestly, I feel good. They are happy and we are happy, it was just a matter of them wanting to make a change in their lives. It was not related to them not liking Lacuna Coil anymore or them not liking the music or us as people so it was a totally friendly split. It was mainly due to the fact that they couldn’t handle the touring life anymore. Our job requires a lot of months away and it’s been a while, we’ve been together for a long time.

I feel great because they are happy about this choice and we’re are happy for them and also because we can continue with a renewed energy. We are motivated more than ever and strong, as a band, to continue. Our drummer Criz is still our webmaster so he’s still continuing to work with us behind the scenes and we’re friends with Pizza so I actually feel good about it any way.

When their retirement was announced, the comments from everyone involved were very gracious and cordial all around.

Yeah because we wanted to make it clear: Nothing happened. There was no beef between us, there was nothing hidden. It’s not like we’re putting it out as a friendly split but it really was the quietest meeting we’ve ever done. It was like, “Okay we feel this way” and “Well okay we feel this way. How can we put this together?”

Before it was announced, how far in advance did you know?

We knew since about December. We had some little hints here and there that made me understand that they weren’t really 100 percent convinced of touring so much. When we had discussed the schedule for this year, it was a question of “You’re in or you’re out” because you can’t really say, “Okay I’m going to be there for one tour but not the others.” It was the moment to make a decision.

Fans are excited for ‘Broken Crown Halo,’ but it must be bittersweet because it’s the last album featuring those two members.

It is bittersweet in a way, but I don’t really look at it in a sad way. We’ve always been evolving as a band and this is just part of the evolution. Whatever we did with them, it’s great and amazing and we’re going to carry on the legacy. The fact that they’re going to be doing something different, it doesn’t mean Lacuna Coil will be stopping or we’ll change. The songwriters are still in the band, Marco ["Coti" Zelati] writes pretty much all the music and Andrea [Ferro] and I write the lyrics and vocal lines so there will not be a drastic change. We’re all actually stronger than ever and really motivated.

How was the overall process of creating ‘Broken Crown Halo’ for you?

It was made in different parts because Marco had to stay home because of an injury to his arm, that is kind of solved. He can still play but he still has it, it’s like chronic tendonitis. He was forced to stay home for quite a while and so he wrote a lot of music for ‘Broken Crown Halo.’ When we came back home, from all the touring that we did in the States and the summer festivals, we found a lot of songs kind of ready and demos to work with. Andrea and I jumped on board around July and we started throwing around ideas for vocal lines and began to write lyrics to the music. I would say the complete songwriting was done in like two, three months. We really collected all the ideas meeting every day at Marco’s studio and working at it.

Have you found new members to add to Lacuna Coil yet?

The drummer that is going to fill Criz’s spot is Ryan Folden, who a lot of our fans know already because he’s been touring with us for the last year because Criz was home with a newborn baby. We knew Ryan already because he was Criz’s drum tech and we knew he’s a great guy. He's an amazing drummer with a great attitude and that’s really important when you have to tour so much and you’re on a tour bus with the same people every day. It was the most natural choice.

We decided to go on with only Maus on guitar. At first we weren’t really sure but we’re really happy with the results. Everyone is telling us we’re sounding even more rock than before because all the little details a guitar might make, now you can really hear everything. Sometimes with two guitars certain things might be hidden or confused with two guitar players at the same time. At the moment we’re going on with one guitar player in the lineup.

Catch Lacuna Coil on Revolver's 2014 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock tour. Go here for remaining dates. And pre-order the band's upcoming album, 'Broken Crown Halo,'

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