Dez Fafara: “Coal Chamber Has No Place In My Life Whatsoever At This Point” (Updated)

Update – May 19th 12:14pm:

Despite the seemingly bleak outlook for future Coal Chamber output Fafara expressed in the below interview, he has since confirmed he remains a member of both bands, clarifying that his focus is currently just DevilDriver at the moment:

Original Story:

Though it should kind of go without saying having just released a new album with DevilDriver, frontman Dez Fafara has no current plans for Coal Chamber. When asked of the latest status of his seminal nu metal outfit, he told Blunt:

“Coal Chamber right now, Coal Chamber has no place in my life whatsoever at this point. Not with DevilDriver firing on all cylinders and where we’re at. I’m telling you, if you’ve heard Trust No One, the next subsequent records after this are going to be fucking furious. We’ve kept our signature groove, but we’ve also jumped way away from any people around us. So we’re really defining ourselves at this point, and stepping completely away from the pack.”

It would also appear that Coal Chamber won’t be too much of a priority for Fafara going ahead, as he offered:

“Every band’s got its criticism. Coal Chamber toured the world with Pantera and Black Sabbath, and had gold records. It seemed to me that a lot of people loved that band, and we left at the height of where we were at. We had a massive draw, we were a massive presence all over radio. It’s just that inward, all the members had problems that I didn’t want to deal with any more, so I left.

As far as credibility, I mean, every band has got its critics, right? So that’s all good with me. As long as you’re doing something real and to the point. And the thing is this; I took time off from DevilDriver not to do Coal Chamber. I took time off completely, just to take time off. When I took time off, the Coal Chamber guys called me and said, ‘Look, what’s your most important thing?’

I said, ‘I want to eat dinner with my family every night’. They said, ‘Well, you have a studio at your house, why don’t you record a record?’ I said, ‘Cool, okay, I’m just sitting home anyways’. I’m not a guy who watches TV. Sure, I’ll make a record and have a good time doing it. Then they were like, ‘Do you want to do some small amount of touring?’ Which we did.”

DevilDriver‘s new album “Trust No One” arrived in stores last week.