Sometimes, I do feel like the years I spent away from the metal
scene have left me at a severe disadvantage when looking at today’s
metal scene. I missed out on the time when artists like Marilyn
Manson came up from the ranks; all I get to see is the
multi-platinum, parent-angering end result.
So I do feel like an outsider when I listen to an album like
Chamber Music, the latest from Coal Chamber. On one side, I
do hear music that is constantly pushing the envelope and causes me
to smile. On the other hand, I sometimes hear tracks that fail to
resolve themselves in my mind, leaving a rather cluttered picture
behind.
Like a lot of bands I’ve heard of late, Coal Chamber seems to
mix the power of bands like Pantera with the fury of Nine Inch
Nails. The resulting sound isn’t techno, but it isn’t quite metal,
either. And while many bands are working on perfecting this sound,
Coal Chamber – vocalist B. Dez Fafara, guitarist Meegs Rascon,
bassist Rayna Foss Rose and drummer Mike “Bug” Cox – do seem to
make themselves unique in the crowd.
After the theme-inspired opener “Mist,” Coal Chamber kick things
into overdrive with songs like “El Cu Cuy,” “Untrue,” “What’s In
Your Mind” and “Not Living”. Tracks like these not only are
entertaining, but they make the listener think about the boundaries
of heavy metal as they know them – and challenge them to expand
those boundaries. Granted, it’s a little jarring the first time
around, but revolution always is.
Chamber Music starts to unwind a bit on their cover of Peter
Gabriel’s “Shock The Monkey,” featuring Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. I
don’t know if this is the case for the commercial release, but my
advance copy had an excerpt of this song, not the full track – and
the excerpt seems to waste not only Osbourne’s vocal talent (which
he still has) but the power of the cover. Here’s hoping that the
consumer gets the full track.
After that miscue, it almost seems like Coal Chamber just can’t
hit the target with the rest of
Chamber Music. Tracks like “Burgundy,” “Feed My Dreams” and
“No Home” just don’t pack the punch that earlier tracks did. Only
“Shari Vegas” comes close, and even that isn’t nearly as strong a
cut as, say, “Not Living”.
What I will admit about Coal Chamber is that they’re not a
one-listen-and-out band. In order for you to really appreciate what
they’re doing throughout the album, you have to listen to
Chamber Music several times – preferrably over the course of
a few days. And I’ll admit maybe I haven’t spent enough time with
this disc, ’cause the more I listen to it, the more I do find I
like. But my opinion on the second half of
Chamber Music hasn’t changed a lick yet.
It might be early in a band’s career to call their second album
one “for the fans,” and I don’t doubt that
Chamber Music will win over some new fans to Coal Chamber’s
camp. But for cutting edge metal, this band doesn’t always seem to
have sharpened its sword for the whole journey.
