Debut
"COAL CHAMBER"
| Artist: | "COAL CHAMBER " |
| Title: | "Coal Chamber" |
| Label: | Roadrunner Records |
| Release Date: | 2/10/97 |
| Available: | Any Major Music Store |
| Reviewed By: | Mary Ellen Gustafson |
| Rating: | 4 (On a Scale of 1-5) |
"Coal Chamber" (Dez - Vocals, Meegs - Guitar, Rayna - Bass, Mike - Drums) came tother in L.A. in the Spring of 1994. The band quickly recorded a self-produced demo and proceeded to spread the word any way they could on the L.A. music scene. Eventual word of mouth "advertising" led to packed shows at the "biggie" Hollywood clubs like "The Whiskey A Go-Go" and "The Roxy." Their sound, described as a combination of "hip hop, punk, goth and harcore influences with a thick, molten, down-tuned riffing style" was fermenting in a dark rehearsal room until the Fall of '95, when Dino Cazares of "Fear Factory," and producer Ross Robinson, brought them to the attention of Roadrunner Records. V.P. of A&R for Roadrunner, Monte Conner, was reportedly blown away by the demo's opener - "Loco."
He immediately offered them a deal, and everything was great, until, according to Dez "I met my soulmate, and she couldn't deal with the hours, the people I had to work with, just none of it was copacetic to her. I left the band because of her, and I left it for almost half a year. But I always missed it. I just missed the music, missed performing, being with my friends and making music with them. I spent most of my days just in a haze, not really inspired anymore. Then my friend Meegs came knocking on my door one day and said, 'Look, none of the singers we've tried have been working out. We really had magic, let's go for it again' and the rest is history."
Back together by Spring '95, Dez's decision to commit to "Coal Chamber" bred a "No-looking-back" attitude that fueled passion and fire into their music. The Roadrunner deal was finally closed during Christmas of '95, and the band entered the studio to put their raw sound on tape. The lead in track of this self-titled debut album is the infamous "Loco" which first garnered attention for the record deal. This particular song has elements of everything from wailing guitars to heavy hardcore instrumentals and the sing/shout that accompanies it. The tune also employs changes in pace and key to add to it's effect.
Some of the other tracks on the album include: "Oddity," a song with a real hardcore edge offset by bass riffs and spoken word passages; "Unspoiled," a hard-hitting, heavy ode to a lover who walks out on the vocalist without concern for his feelings; "Sway," a really unusual statement on symbolic burning and following love in a hypnotic trance; "First," with lyrics that fit the part of Dez's life when he left the band; and "Clock," using a very effective style of repeating the same lyric over and over to the beat of the drums and the bass line. The actual message part of the lyric is very short, but it also makes a lot of sense. "Where did the time go?/What do I have to show?/Watching the time fly (Go by)/Watching the time fly."
Although this album is really pretty much hardcore with only a tiny bit of the cross-overs stated above, it is an above average debut for a band in this genre. The songs at least have some melody to them, and although a lot of them sound almost the same, there are subtle differences that come through after listening to it a few times. The lyrics are totally angst ridden throughout the album, but some of them make you stop and think if you take the time to read through them (it's often difficult to hear them). Hard rock and hardcore fans might want to check out "Coal Chamber." There is an element of evolution on this first album, and as time goes by, future releases should be worth a listen to see how far they've come.
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