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She's routinely classified as one of the "hottest chicks in metal," an accolade that Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia finds both flattering and amusing.

After all, she's a woman and proud of her femininity -- and like the old adage goes, if you have it, you may as well flaunt it. But what she flaunts -- the image she brings to magazine covers and publicity photos and the stage -- is an image, she told The Daily Times during a recent interview.

"Women are beautiful just in general, and no matter what, other guys and humans will always be looking at the sexy part and the feminine part of me," the Italian native said. "As long as I use that image in a sexy way and not a vulgar way, I'm fine with it. People who know me know that I'm completely different than how you see me in pictures. ...

"They have no idea how I am in real life -- I don't wear makeup, and I don't dress the way I do on stage," she added. "I smile about that, and I'm pleased and flattered, but I have my own private life."

Her private life, however, got a lot more public several years ago, when she threw her lot in with the gothic-metal outfit Lacuna Coil. Formed in 1994, Lacuna Coil brought Scabbia on full time after the founding members liked the male-female harmonies her voice brought to the mix. That was shortly after the band got its start, but it wasn't until 2001 that the band broke in America, when the album "Unleashed Memories" earned a mention in Billboard magazine's Hard Music Spotlight. Their first U.S. tour that year won over audiences, and in 2002, Lacuna Coil released "Comalies," which won over critics for Entertainment Weekly, Revolver, Rolling Stone, Stuff and more.

The band toured with other metal acts like P.O.D., Type O Negative, Danzig and Anthrax. The song "Heaven's a Lie" struck a chord with commercial radio, and its success led to 2004's invitation for the band to participate in that year's Ozzfest tour, where the group sold more albums than any other band on the bill except for Slipknot. In 2005, the group released "Karmacode" and immediately jumped into a non-stop tour to support it with appearances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," as a supporting act for Rob Zombie and on the 2006 Ozzfest main stage.

Earlier this year, the band released "Shallow Life," which moved more toward straight-ahead metal and away from the gothic overtones with which the band had been tagged from the beginning.

"We didn't want to repeat ourselves over and over," Scabbia said. "It's not like we don't like what we did in the past, but we did it already. For the new album, we didn't want to do 'Karmacode Part 2,' so we went with a different producer who would bring something new to the table.

"I think this album is a good rock album. There are still some melancholy parts -- call them 'goth parts,' if you want to -- but at the same time, I think we added a lot more to the table. The songs are tight, and the lyrics are more direct than ever. There's a lot more power coming out of the album, in my opinion."

Putting together a Lacuna Coil record, she said, is a group process -- she's responsible for the lyrics, and before production begins in the studio, she gathers with her bandmates to "test drive" the songs and implement necessary changes that make them better. And while a certain segment of the band's fans have bemoaned the move away from heavy gothic elements, the evolution and continuing improvement of the overall sound should be the goal of any band, she added.

"I've always hated descriptions of music -- people say, 'I like this band because they're really metal,' or, 'I like this band because they're really rock,'" she said. "To me, I don't care. If I listen to the music and it gives me chills, then I like it. I can like classical music to relax, and I can like rock music to get some energy. Why get stuck on just one kind of music?

"Honestly -- on my iPod, you will find everything from Beethoven to Lamb of God. I have no problem listening to different styles, because at the same time, I can never listen to the same style over and over and over. Music is so different nowadays and can be confusing, but if you take that in terms of, 'I like this band and the music they make,' then it's fine.

"Who cares about names?" she added. "If I like the band, that's it. That's all that matters."