Devildriver frontman Dez Fafara thinks his former band Coal Chamber helped pave the way for theatrical metal bands

(Image credit: Roadrunner)

In the new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now, Devildriver frontman Dez Fafara faces questions from MH readers, in our regular People Vs… feature. Referencing the reunion of Fafara’s nu-metal band Coal Chamber, Hammer reader Brendan Smith enquires whether the 54-year-older singer felt “silly” for “having to slap on spooky make-up again”, and receives a bullish reply from the Californian singer.

“No I loved it to be honest with you!” says Fafara. “I’m a punk rock kid, so that lends itself to eyeliner and all the other shit. Now I look at what’s popular right now, looking at some of the bands out there, it looks like they could be taking from what Coal Chamber did. I see Avatar and think, ‘Thank god we did what we did back in the day, or maybe there would be no ground breaking open for a band like that.’ Back in the day when we broke that out, there were only a few bands doing it. When the harsh critics got the gold records thrown at them, they understood we were doing something right.”

In response to a question from Hammer reader Joe Cadec, who asks, ‘Will there ever be a new Coal Chamber record?’, Fafara says, “I’m not gonna say yes or no.”

“I’m not gonna say no, because we’ve all spoken,” he explains. “The main thing for me is that the relationship is all good after numerous fallouts in the beginning and after some stuff went horribly wrong when we got back together to release [2015 comeback album] Rivals. The vibe in that camp is very cool at the moment, and we all have each other’s backs. I wouldn’t put it past us, but right now I’m definitely concentrating on Devildriver.”

The new issue of Metal Hammer features an exclusive 50th anniversary Judas Priest celebration, plus new interviews with Mastodon, Perry Farrell, System Of A Down, Ghostmane and more.

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