COAL CHAMBER To Enter Studio In October

On August 13, DEVILDRIVER and COAL CHAMBER frontman Dez Fafara called in to SiriusXM Liquid Metal (channel 40) and spoke with host Jose Mangin about COAL CHAMBER's just-announced deal with Napalm Records and the band's upcoming studio album.

"Over the years we just started talking and hanging out, and from there we decided to take it around the world and on a tour, and it went really well," Dez explained. "Everywhere we would go crowds were coming out in force, and from there it would come to guys slipping me demoes silently, without anyone really knowing and I loved the stuff. It was evolved, we have evolved, and the music has evolved. And when I heard a couple of the songs I said, 'Man, this could be legitimately really cool.' So we signed with Napalm Records; they'll be our partner in this. The guys have been writing solid, they've been writing for a month now, I got two more songs last night so we have nine. [We're] looking to write 25 and then narrow it down a little, with Mark Lewis producing. They're looking to track in October and I'm tracking vocals in November and we're hoping to be done, mixed, and mastered in January and get it out to people next year."

Asked if DEVILDRIVER is still his No. 1 prirority as the band continues to tour in support of its 2013 album "Winter Kills", Dez said: "Oh, absolutely, that's my baby. The record is still performing well on the charts. The shows that we did were killer. The WHITECHAPEL run was incredible, and we’'re getting ready to go to Australia with WHITECHAPEL in September and the we're going to come back and play the Knotfest in California, with DEVILDRIVER, and we're going to end the 'Winter Kills' cycle there and regroup and hope for a record in 2016."

Bassist Nadja Peulen returned to COAL CHAMBER in November 2013 following the departure of Canadian musician Chela Rhea Harper, who joined the band in late 2011 and toured with the group for nearly two years.

COAL CHAMBER and SEVENDUST last year took part in a U.S. co-headlining tour. Also appearing on the bill was LACUNA COIL.

COAL CHAMBER rose to prominence with a gold-certified debut album in 1997 that established the group as one of the most promising bands on the then-emerging, so-called "nu metal" scene.

Peulen replaced Foss in 1999 during Rayna's pregnancy for almost 12 months while the band was on the road supporting its second album, "Chamber Music". Rayna came back to the band after her pregnancy leave and recorded COAL CHAMBER's third album, "Dark Days". Shortly after recording "Dark Days", Rayna quit the band and Nadja was recruited for the touring cycle that followed the CD's release. The band broke up during the "Dark Days" tour in 2002 and reunited nine years later.