Search - Coal Chamber :: Dark Days

Mine is the empty jar

incubus1 | 02/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With all that's been said about Coal Chamber, be it all the elongated absences between records, the constant fueding between band members, or the mere fact that they were lumped in with the nu metal genre, the one thing that I don't think can easily be disputed is that this is probably their best and most focused CD.



I loved their self titled debut but wasn't fond of the different direction they took on Chamber Music. With the release of Dark Days, however, we find the band getting back to their roots and playing the music that fits them best. Dez's voice is much more angry, at times his screams are so intense that it's not surprising at all that he moved on to a heavier band, and the music is even better than on the previous CDs. The lyrics aren't masterful, in fact they tend to be repetative and unimaginative, but still, they get the point across. There is the occassional exception though, Friend?, a declaration of a friendship gone awry, is something every person has wanted to say to someone at one time or another. Rowboat is the other true exception. Everything about that song is covered in intensity.



The CD keeps its pace steady throughout the entire record, there's no real light moments to be found and Dez does no accountable singing, so basically what you have is a straight up heavy CD. Three songs on this disc really stand out as some of Coal Chamber's best material, those being Friend?, Rowboat, and Empty Jar. Rowboat, I'm convinced, is Coal Chamber's shining moment as a band. I seriously doubt any song of their's is as 'out there' as this, and the chorus is as memorable as you can get. Empty Jar uses Dez's different vocal techniques to perfection, be it spoken word, distorted, or screaming, it's all here.



Dark Days isn't without its misses though. Watershed is a catchy song but falls flat when it should gain momentum. One Step is another very catchy song, but in the end it's far too repetative for its own good. Then you have the wreck of a song Drove. I've tried to like it but the lyrics are extremely corny, the vocal delivery is lame, and the music just isn't up to par. Aside from the afformentioned Drove, even the low points are fun to listen to, so that says something to this album's quality.



My favorite songs are Something Told Me, Dark Days, Friend?, Rowboat, and Empty Jar. Sadly this was (I think) Coal Chamber's last actual CD full of new material. People can say what they want but I really liked this band and it's a shame they couldn't work their own pety differences out. Dez's new band Devildriver is good but I still yearn to hear new Coal Chamber, and judging from Dark Days, the future would've been quite kind to them."

An aggressive yet rather redundant swan song...

Andrew Ellington | I'm kind of everywhere | 05/07/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Coal Chamber's `Chamber Music' was a defining album in my early adolescence. I remember standing in a Sam Goody while on vacation with my family in Texas. I had only really teased the idea of heavy rock music, mostly still obsessed with rap music and pop music. I saw this CD on display and the headphones were attached and so I picked them up and pressed play. All of a sudden my eardrums were flooded with the aggression filled `Notion' and I was instantly hooked. My parents, dead set against heavy metal in any form, would never had allowed me to own that album and since I was with them I actually had to wait about another month before getting away long enough to buy the album and sneak it into my house.



I've been in love with Coal Chamber ever since.



Now, truth remains that `Chamber Music', to me, is their most experimental and interesting album to date (sadly they broke up and Dez formed the less interesting Devil Driver). `Dark Days' is a very nice swan song though, but while it reverts back to their debut sound (and I loved their debut album) it has a tendency of sounding rather complacent, which is sad because we should always be growing.



The album is just about 100% aggression. The soft moments are what I think helped separate `Chamber Music' from their other work and create something special, but I love their form of aggression so I cannot complain.



The three most popular tracks here are no doubt `Fiend' (the first single) and the two tracks that appeared on soundtracks, `Glow' and `Something Told Me'. I love `Fiend', which gets the album jump started perfectly with pure anger and a fierceness that only Dez's baritone vocals can get across. I like `Glow' a lot. I love the interesting musical arrangement used to give the track uniqueness. In all honesty, I am not a fan of `Something Told Me'...it just feels rather lazy to me.



The rest of the album, much like these three tracks, is an onslaught of head-banging metal. `Watershed' is a brilliant example of the bands ability to pound out prime `fight music'. This is the type of music that makes you want to hit someone. My one criticism is that with no real varying style here the tracks can become rather redundant after a while and so they lose their effect. They all start to resemble one another, with the same structures and compositions. It lacks the fluctuation of `Chamber Music' and so it becomes `just another rock album' with nothing special to hook you.



Sure, `One Step' and `Friend' are really fun and really edgy songs; and the hooks are phenomenal, but they are still nothing mind bending. I think the word used was `revolutionary'. There is nothing revolutionary about this album.



None of the songs are `bad'. `Alienate Me', `Drove', `Beckoned'; they are heavy and aggressive and abrasive and `classic' Coal Chamber, but they are also kind of lazy if you want to be honest here.



And then you have the title track, `Dark Days', in all its splendid glory. The song is perfect from start to finish. It has that softness in parts, the delicacy that `Chamber Music' introduced and it takes advantage of it by shattering us with their uncanny form of brutality. It is the best track on the album; hands down. I also thought that `Empty Jar' used that same formula well, but with a very different sound so kudos to them for that. And then you have the `Row Boat' cover by the band Flood.



Flawless.



It is creepy and edgy and perfectly simple. There isn't much to the track at all. The chords are simple, the lyrics are simple but the end result is more than powerful. Dez's voice is a perfect fit for this track.



So, my ending thoughts here are that the album is good, if not a little repetitive, but it serves its purpose. `Dark Days', `Row Boat', `Fiend', `Friend' and `One Step' are the best tracks here and all definitely top notch Coal Chamber, but the balance of the album, while good, can feel like sloppy seconds at times; like nothing more than filler. If you are a fan of the band then by all means dig in, but if you are looking for an album to introduce you check out `Chamber Music' or their self titled debut."