Coal
Chamber - Giving the Devil His Due
by Tim Byrnes
Coal
Chamber - Giving the Devil His Due
Label: Roadrunner
Rating:
Coal Chamber have always been one of those
bands I want to like more than I do. They have, to my mind, a different
take on heavy music, one that seems to have a well considered psychological
basis rather than just being anti for the hell of it. The down-tuned guitars
and Cookie Monster vocals are the same as other nu-metal/industrial bands,
but where a band like, say, Korn, seem satisfied with being unsatisfied
and content to simply yell at the devil, CC look inwardly and confront
their responses to the s***storm of modern life and honestly consider just
where they fit into the equation.
This CD of remixes, B-sides and demos is
really a 'stand-alone' window into the mind and soul of a young band wrestling
with the drama of the day to day. The clockwork guitar guitars of the CDs
opener Headstone and the Walking Dead signal a band on the move. The
almost spoken word vocals on the verses lend the right amount of tension
(and, surprise, literacy) to a genre I fear has been running itself ragged
trying to out-evil itself lately.
Throughout this CD, but especially on Big
Truck (Hands on the Wheel Mix), Coal Chamber deftly escapes the
ordinary death(metal)trap of bogus fear-mongering by infusing each cut
with a lingering sense of paranoia, as opposed to mindless brutality. This
is a fine distinction, indeed, but one that separates a band with a future,
like Coal Chamber, from the myriad of scary monsters out there going through
the ghoulish motions. If they hadnt of broken up I would look forward
to Coal Chamber's next 'official' CD as they were clearly a band in transition
and Giving The Devil His Due is a strong enough statement to keep me
interested and I don't see why this shouldn't be the case for you.
Posted by OUberTwo:
Hey Vicky!!!I just now noticed that you commented...lol...I'm at the BE board too...lol...
Posted by evil graveyard:
COAL CHAMBER ROCKS!! Hey Shawn!!! I'm at the Bleeding Edge message board now!
Posted by EMFD:
tigger's a moron
Posted by HELLFIRE:
I think coal chamber are the sweetest band around. I Almost dies when I found out they broke up. What ever happened to bands like metallica and Cannible corpse, well anyway rock on and remember coal chanber still kicks ass
Posted by BLACK FAITH:
I LOVE IT THEY ARE S COOL
Posted by Darkfire:
I agree with Sin but Coal Chamber is up there. Coal Chamber will always live on. So Fu** all of you people who think that screaming into the mic is not music, haha.(Damn preps) Rock on!
Posted by Sin:
dude, coal chamber is friggin sweet, but, tigger down there is wrong..SLIPKNOT OVER RULES so get used to it
Posted by HARLEEY:
I THINK COAL CHAMBERS IS THE GREATEST ROCK BAND EVER I LOVE MEEGE
Posted by LOVELY ASSSS:
I THINK THEIR TELLING THE TRUTH
Posted by Koops:
CC Rock!!! When I were first getting in 2 metal I heard them and knew. CC are my Gods.
P.S. F#ck U Shayn and Aryias
Posted by Someone:
Coal Chamber is my favorite band of all time, and its a shame that they split, but check out DevilDriver and Pinata and give Dez and Meegs support
Posted by tigger:
i think coal chamber is one of the greatest bands of all time their music really kicks a$$. compare slipknot and coal chamber, coal chamber would come out best. Yea coal chamber kicks a$$$$$$$$!
Posted by OUberTwo:
Coal Chamber is, what I think, the best band ever I was deeply saddened to learn that they broke up. Although I wish that they hadn't I wish them all the best of luck. I also want to thank them for the awsome music they made for me to listen to.
Hoo-Hah!
Posted by amy:
i think that Coal Chamber is freaking amazing.Their cd Giving The Devil His Due is probably my favorite cd. They freaking rock! Coal Chambers Dez has an amazing voice and the guitars, man meegs rock on! You all are the best! it too bad you had to break up but your music will always be here. Hee Hee... well rock on guys/girl!
Posted by WaitandBleed:
coal chamber will rock for years to come, nothing can change that, just because they broke up doesn't mean that their music is all of a sudden gonna suck, plus nadja is hot! so it all works out m'kay?
Posted by big_d:
i love coal chamber i really do their music is awesome but i was kinda disappointed in this album but i still bought it because i buy anything with anything that has to do with coal chamber but the album was ok.
Posted by vampirerascon:
I am an all-out Coal Chamber fan. I was deeply saddened to realize Coal Chamber broke up. However, I believe that their music will always live on. I bought Giving the Devil His Due not just because it was by Coal Chamber, but also because...it's hard to explain, but just like the CD title - giving the fans their due.
Posted by fetus:
i woulda gotten this if coal chamber didn't break up. dez says he sees such camaraderie and unity in devildriver and that he hasn't seen it in coal chamber since the first coal chamber album. well does he not realize this is the first devildriver album!!??
Posted by Tragedy:
I think that coal chamber doesn't get the respect that they should. Their music completely kicks ass, and compared to new music like slipknot and murderdolls coal chamber is a god!
Posted by Phaedrus:
I like a lot of CC's stuff, but also in small doses. I find it hard to listen to a full CD of theirs without yawning.
Posted by Shayn:
If you replaced Aryias with Shayn, then you'd have pretty much exactly what I would have wrote.
Posted by Aryias:
I used to listen to Coal Chamber when I was first getting into numetal back in high school. I can handle a song or two here and there, but now I've really lost interest. Now I guess I need more technical guitar work and better vocals to really like songs, and they just don't cut it for me anymore. Regardless, they still helped me along in my quest for pure metal madness!
