COAL CHAMBER
GIVING THE DEVIL HIS DUE
ROADRUNNER

LINKS:
coalchamber.com

Thank God someone had the sense to release this CD. Amid the wasteland that’s been the hard rock world for the past 10 years, full of carbon-copy fakers and bands that just flat-out suck, Coal Chamber could always be depended upon to serve up hardcore music that is original, and, at times, avant garde. The tracks on Giving the Devil His Due are listed in a way -- starting from the band’s 1996 debut progressing to their most recent work and then ending with some never-before released and super-rare goodies -- that illustrates their development.
“Headstones and the Walking Dead”, an outtake from their debut, kicks things off. Musically, this song would be cutting edge today. The string arrangements are so well-controlled, yet simultaneously jagged and wild. And it balances perfectly with the percussion. B. Dez Farfara, with his slightly demented monologue, exhibits an odd God-like dominance that many newbie vocalists don’t have. Wicked opener.
“Big Truck” (Hand-on-Wheel Mix) is a great twist on a classic song. They’ve stripped it down to its bare-bones hardcore essentials and it couldn’t sound better. The music arrangement rises and crashes with thunderous force, which B. Dez Fafara skittishly counters against with his personal tug-of-war between self-strangulation and gut-wrenching shrieking.
“Pig” -- another old gem -- is here in all its original glory. The vocals have a savageness that’s been ditched by other nu-metal progenitors. Musically, it’s not gimmicky; they’ve thrown the effects equipment out the window and decided to just rock out.
Coal Chamber goes postal for real on “Bradley “(Going Postal Mix). The vocals are a never-ending civil war between anger and despondency, which is intensified by a wickedly complex music arrangement. The drum-work is phenomenal, enveloping the guitars as they wrestle between sweet melody and ferocious jack-hammering.
Skipping ahead a bit, we come to the aptly-named “Apparition”. Its spooky, brooding musical arrangement make a twisted, dark, yet perfect marriage with B. Dez Fafara’s errie lyrical play.
“Anxiety” is a bruiser that hits you with awkward time signatures that make for a tense listen. It’s not a bad song, but it’s placement in the CD’s listing was ill-thought.
Tracks 15 through 20 are a special treat; five beyond-rare demos that go back before Coal Chamber signed with Roadrunner.
“I”, the first demo, is taken from the band’s second demo. It’s a simple song that just rocks. The tempo is lively and the musical arrangement is tight, but it’s the vocals that make this song; Frenetic, breathy and animalistic. They should’ve released this song a long time ago.
“Loco” stretches back further in the band’s history, to their first demo in 1994. This is an ass-kicker. Plain and simple.
I’ve listened to the outro, “Babbit”, at least three times a day for the past two weeks. It’s a shame it never got onto an album.
If you’re a hard rock fan, Giving the Devil His Due is a must have. It illustrates evolution, but it also shows how far above so many other bands Coal Chamber was from the beginning.
However, rumor has it that in-fighting is threatening the band’s future, so much that B. Dez Fafara has switched focus to another band called DevilDriver. One can only pray that rumors are just rumors or all that there will be left is to just give the devil his due.
----Eric V. White