''Heaven's a Lie'' is the first single by

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...

from their album ''

Comalies ''Comalies'' is the third studio album by Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil, released on 29 October 2002 through Century Media Records. According to lead singer Cristina Scabbia, " uring the album's recording we had a sort of creative exp ...

''. Although frequently labeled as an

anti-religion Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...

song, the song's namesake was not intended to be interpreted literally. In an interview with HighWireDaze.com, leading vocalist

Cristina Scabbia Cristina Adriana Chiara Scabbia (; born 5 June 1972) is an Italian singer, best known as one of the two vocalists of gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Scabbia used to write an advice column in the popular rock magazine ''Revolver'', alongside mus ...

explained the meaning of the song; the word "heaven" is a metaphor for a "perfect life". When the phrase "your heaven's a lie" is used, it is referring to people who try to force their opinions on others. Co-vocalist

Andrea Ferro Andrea "Andy" Ferro (born 19 August 1973 in Arona, Province of Novara, Region of Piedmont) is an Italian singer, best known as the male vocalist and one of the founding members of Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Ferro founded Lacuna Coil ...

refers to this theme at their concerts as a song about freedom of ideas. Amidst the single's newfound popularity in late 2003, the group performed an acoustic version of "Heaven's a Lie" during an edition of ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

''. The album version was also included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, '' MTV2 Headbangers Ball''. The song was used on a commercial for the TV show ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...

''.

Track listing

# Heaven's a Lie - 4:46 # Self Deception - 3:30

Music videos

The first version of the music video was released when the album Comalies came out. It was a sort of backstage shot during the recording of Comalies in the Woodhouse studios by Luigi Sabadini and the band themself. The second

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

accompanied the single's release in May, 2003. It found airplay on ''

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

'' alongside one of the earliest televised American interviews with the group on said program. This video, shot in Los Angeles by Chade Seide, had a noticeably low budget and featured the group's vocalists sitting along a dark staircase. However, upon the sudden popularity of the single in December, 2003, an entirely new music video was released and found high circulation on MTV2's resurrected ''Headbangers Ball''. This version was directed by Patric Ullaeus and shot in Gothenburg, Sweden, with 6000€ budget features noticeably vibrant graphics and a stronger presentation overall compared with its predecessor. It has the band performing in a

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...

ed landscape with small, threatening discs cutting through the air. Lacuna Coil's follow up, " Swamped," would have a likewise high production.

Cover

Manntis Manntis is an American metalcore band. History Manntis originally formed in 2000 as a four-piece group. The band gathered mainstream attention in 2004 when they were one of the contestants on MTV's Battle for Ozzfest. Their lead guitarist, Adair ...

(feat.

In This Moment In This Moment is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. They found drummer Jeff Fabb and started the band as Dying Star. Unhappy with their musical direction, they ...

) covered "Heaven's A Lie" on ''Covering 20 Years Of Extremes'', 2CD compilation for celebrating Century Media Records 20th anniversary.

Sample

References

Lacuna Coil songs 2002 debut singles 2002 songs Songs written by Andrea Ferro Songs written by Cristina Scabbia {{2000s-single-stub