The good folks at RoadRunner Records have described Coal Chamber as "committed to writing music that gives the fans an outlet to vent their anger, confusion and frustration."
This may be true, but as the lyrics indicate there is no idea of personal responsibility behind these emotions, nor any analytic process behind their eventual transcendence. The result is that Coal Chamber becomes music to punch pillows to and scream, "Why?"
In the early '90s, Coal Chamber started a movement within hard rock that continues today. Korn, the biggest recipient of Coal Chamber's initial creative burst, took this movement to the masses with considerable commercial success. The trend still continues, however, and dozens of similar bands are broadcast through the nondescript popular hardcore radio of today.
If Coal Chamber's new album, Dark Days, is any indication, the band has progressed by 13 steps. About five different places interspersed within the album are remotely interesting, but for the most part, it's whiny crap. The music never rises out of the power chord routine and mostly maintains the same 4/4 march throughout the entirety of the album.
Coal Chamber plays inverted rhythmic figures, and as cute as that might be, it is aimless, unfelt and ultimately out of context.
Coal Chamber is extremely formulaic on this album. Almost every song has a guitar, bass and electronic introduction, and finishes with an abrupt cut of an ending.
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This band has not evolved much since its inception, which is a shame considering the potency of its initial statement and relatively large sphere of influence.
It's as if someone gave the group the ball, it ran with it, scored a touchdown, proceeded to run straight into the goal post and knock itself unconscious only to dream of its previous glory with a little bit of drool on its chin.
I don't particularly like this album. I also do not see why we need to paint parts of the world as evil and good in order to deal with them in a constructive capacity. Maybe I just need to punch a pillow for a few years to really understand the point.
