By Kelley Simms
LOCKED & LOADED
Photo: Dan Santoni
amazing festival. From there, we had a
good time and it became apparent (to get
back together). We realized you can pretty
much only have a reunion once, so if we
were actually going to have any chance of
getting back together and making things
happen, we'd have to come up with
[new)]music.
IE: Not many bands get a second chance,
but in all actuality, your reformation and
new album is your second chance.
Dez Fafara: If you ever get a (second)
chance to make up with somebody that
you fell out with; an old love, an old friend
or an old boss that fired you rightly so and
you wanted to walk in and say, 'Thanks
man for firing me because of what you
did, I got my shit together,' you should do
it. Over the years we didn't speak for a
very long time. Everything has been cool,
so people should hear this and go out of
their way and try to make that effort,
because it does feel good in the end.
Coal Chamber: Dez Fafara (far right)
L
ove 'em or hate 'em, nü metal legends Coal Chamber have clawed
their way back into the metal mainstream after a 13-year hiatus with a ferocious comeback album, Rivals. The band
delivers 13 blistering tracks, including the
riot-inducing "Suffer in Silence," featuring
Chicago's own industrial metal pioneer, Al
Jourgensen of Ministry. Given Coal
Chamber's well-publicized falling out in
2003, not many people — including the
band themselves — thought a reunion
would ever be possible. However, the
reunited clan, consisting of tattoo-throated
frontman Dez Fafara (who also fronts
extreme metal band DevilDriver), gui-
34 illinoisentertainer.com july 2015
tarist Miguel "Meegs Rascón," drummer
Mikey "Bug" Cox and bassist Nadja
Peulen, have buried the hatchet and have
resurfaced with a vengeance.
IE: Rivals will be Coal Chambers first
release since 2002's Dark Days. How did
the process come together?
Dez Fafara: It was a very long process. We
started to talk in 2006, and in 2009 — a lot
of people don't know this — but we actually demoed two songs. But listening back
to those songs, it didn't feel refreshing
enough. So we went out and toured the
world in 2012; we started out with
Soundwave in Australia, which is an
IE: It sounds like the band had a damn
good time while recording this record.
Dez Fafara: We get in the rehearsal room
and we laugh so hard we barely get anything done because we have such a good
time. And that's really what it's all about.
We've buried the hatchet and got back to it
and we're having a great time. I'm watching people's lives get better; Meegs is married and Mikey has a little baby boy and
he's sober. And that's a big deal. It's
become real fun.
IE: Rivals captures your trademark Coal
Chamber sound with similarities to your
first album, while introducing an updated
sound that holds up well to today's modern metal.
Dez Fafara: All three records that we made
— the first one, second one and Dark Days
— are all so much different from each
other that we never had a formula; we
have a signature sound. But we knew we
didn't want to be part of any '90s throwback record or any nostalgic trip. Part of
the reason we didn't get back together in
2009 is because the music we were making
sounded like older Coal Chamber, but we
all wanted to do something fresh that it
took this long to make that happen.
IE: How was the musical chemistry
between the four of you? Were you all in
the studio together or did you do your
vocals separately at your house like you
did on the last DevilDriver album?
Dez Fafara: I did vocals separately at my
house. I built a really killer studio down
here. Nadia nailed her tracks in four days.
She came in extremely pro. The tone that
Meegs is using on the guitar is quite different than most guitar players and what
they do. He's a sound specialist with what
he comes up with. And Mike on drums, he
definitely has his own vibe. We didn't
record this record to a click track, either. A
lot of the vocals are the first, second or
third take. This record has a vibe to it for
sure.
IE: How did you get Al Jourgensen to
guest sing on the track "Suffer in Silence?
Dez Fafara: He's been a long time friend
and he's one of those guys that I really
respect. He started industrial music. He's
one of the guys that understands the
heavy music with the darkness. He's a guy
that can really relate to what was going on
with Coal Chamber and what the lyrics to
"Suffer in Silence" were about. (They're
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