In a new interview with Full Metal Jackie’s nationally syndicated radio show, LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia was asked how Italian guitarist/producer Daniele Salomone came to joined the band as the replacement for LACUNA COIL’s longtime guitarist Diego Cavallotti. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’ve been knowing Daniele for a few years now. He came on board, actually, a few years ago because he actually helped us during other recordings as well, just helping us setting the guitar tunes or just taking care of some equipment. So we asked him to help us out for the cycle.”[When] we had this lineup change, we immediately thought about him because it’s a person that we know personally, so we know that we can get along well,” Cristina explained. “We know that he’s an incredible, great guitar player. He knows everything about the equipment, because he has a studio himself, he produces other bands as well, so he knows how to handle things. And he was the first person that came to our minds when we were searching for a person that would play guitar.”Scabbia went on to clarify that Salomone has not yet been made an official member of LACUNA COIL and is currently touring with the band in a session-musician capacity.”He’s not like the new guitar player of LACUNA COIL because we always need some time — we need some time,” Scabbia explained. “In order to be part of the family, you just have to tour with LACUNA COIL to see if it’s your thing. So you don’t know if it’s something that you can actually take because the lifestyle of a musician is not easy.”Salomone made his live debut with LACUNA COIL on August 4, 2024 at the Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania.In June 2024, 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.”Cavallotti and Salomone played together in the Italian metal band INVERNO, which released its debut album, “Stasis”, in December 2023.LACUNA COIL’s new album, “Sleepless Empire”, will be released February 14, 2025 via Century Media Records.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”.Photo credit: Cunene