Coal Chamber/DevilDriver frontman Dez Fafara appeared on Full Metal Jackie‘s radio show (transcription via Loudwire) this past weekend. Over the course of the discussion Fafara spoke of what to expect from both outfits this year and beyonx. On the Coal Chamber front, he said of the groups forthcoming new album on Napalm Records and how they have matured since disbanding over a decade ago:
“It’s actually been 13 years since we’ve made music together. We let it grow organically and we did what we were going to do organically. So there is a growth in the music for sure. I think that if you were going to try and come back with Coal Chamber and do something kind of throwback tour, or a throwback record and throwback sound I don’t think that would work. So I keep telling people, don’t expect some throwback record. This is Coal Chamber in 2015. It’s going to be a different story.
It’s got a lot of really killer hooks, I think the band did an amazing job with the music. Mark Lewis on production was incredible. We had a great time doing the record, so there was a lot of fun surrounding it. That was the key word, let’s have fun. I think people are really going to love this stuff. They’re going to dig it and if you’re a Coal Chamber fan, you’re definitely going to love it. If you were never a Coal Chamber fan, I think you’re going to come over to this side and dig it.”
On the DevilDriver front, Fafara revealed that he hopes the group will record a new album this year and also spoke of their recent lineup changes, which saw both Jeff Kendrick and John Boecklin exit. Thus far ex-Chimaira drummer Austin D’Amond has been hired on in Boecklin‘s place. Here’s what Fafara had to say of the matter:
“The timeline is we’re definitely going to write this year and probably record this year and drop it in 2016. What made him the right guy is he’s more than capable. You can understand when members leave a band and Jeff the guitar player left because he just didn’t want to tour anymore and I totally understood that after the schedule we kept for almost 13 years.
John wanted to try and do some stuff on his own and it was more than OK with me after that length of time. So, when you do replacement members you want to get people who are more than capable or more capable than who you had.
I definitely am looking forward to playing with Austin, he’s a great guy and a great drummer. He’s got an incredible stage presence and when he came in for the audition he absolutely just smoked it. He’s just an incredible guy and you get a real good vibe from him, which is another thing.
We’re going to tour a lot so you’re going to have to have that. The guitar player is also — we’ve also got a new guitar player but we’re going to wait on the announcement on that. It’s nice, I just got back yesterday from Los Angeles, from Mike’s house meeting with the whole band. It’s looking like it’s on track to record mid this year.”
