It’s been a long 13 years for fans of Coal Chamber, with the band calling it quits in 2002. But now they are back with a new full-length release in the form of Rivals. It’s a dark, gritty, anger ridden record, just as you would expect from the industrial metal quartet.
The rough guitar intro to the first track ‘I.O.U. Nothing’, really sets the tone for the whole album. The vocals fall between Slipknot and Dope, with the darkness of Corey Taylor’s screams and the gritty melody of Edsel Dope. There is very little change in tone from the vocals as they keep to their angry growl for the most part.
The biggest variety comes in ‘Suffer In Silence’. When the first verse kicks in, the vocals are almost spoken, and layered vocals combine the usual sound, with some more screamed vocals towards the end. This helps add another dimension to the track.
The instrumentation is more varied than the vocal. While some songs center around chords, and dark dirty sounds, others focus on more melodic guitar sounds, but never do they distract from the overall Coal Chamber sound. It’s also refreshing to hear a heavy band like this not resort to a constant double bass rhythm on the drums, but focusing on aiding the song, not making things as loud as possible.
The title track ‘Rivals’ is a great example of the variety, with fluid verses, where the guitar notes fading together to achieve an eerie atmosphere. The chorus’s contain a heavier screamed vocal, and the guitars change accordingly, bringing in more bass tones.
The vocals do get a bit repetitive at times, and maybe this album would be better listened to in bits, rather than all in one sitting. If, however, you are particularly into dark, gritty metal, perpetually angry, or are looking for an album to blast and piss off the neighbors then we’ve found your record.
