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List Price: $18.98 | | Label: Roadrunner Records
Salesrank: 116021
Released: May 7, 2002 |
| Our Price: $8.94 |
| Used Price: $0.71 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Dark Days Track Listing:
1. Fiend
2. Glow
3. Watershed
4. Something Told Me
5. Dark Days
6. Alienate Me
7. One Step
8. Friend
9. Rowboat
10. Drove
11. Empty Jar
12. Beckoned
Editorial Review:
Limited edition of the goth inspired alternative metal act's 2002 album is packaged in an exclusive black jewel case & includes three bonus tracks, 'Anxiety', 'Save Yourself' & 'One Step' (Scott Humphrey mix).
Description of Dark Days:
Coal Chamber's third outing since 1997 finds the Los Angeles-based quartet taking its dark, intelligent nu-metallic approach farther. More ominous, aggressive, and postindustrial than true metal, the band's portentous, aggro style is also at times sensual, as vocalist Dez Fafara delivers provocative, pointed lyrics in a passionate, wide-ranging sing-to-a-growl voice. From "Friend?" to "Drove," with its spooky soundtrack-like vocals and simple, haunting, edgy music, Coal Chamber pulls no punches. As Farfara taunts in "Drove," "Yes, I despise you mostly / you're small you see, a wannabe." From the barely controlled chaos of "Something Told Me" and the dynamic title track to the insinuating, irresistible chorus of "One Step" and "Rowboat," a song originally done by the band Flood, the disc is generally strong. Ultimately, however, this album's 41 minutes of murky musings is not revolutionary enough to earn major merit. --Katherine Turman
Dark Days Reviews:
Good for fans, bad for first time listeners 
2009-11-17 - I have to admit, this is my favorite CD by the band. No 5 stars? Why? I'm sorry but this is basicly their first CD with a updated sound. Their debut CD brought their sound into the ears of people back in 1997. Not highly original but it was defnitly a darker tone to the already dark tone set by Korn back in the Nu Metal hey-day. Chamber Music, their second CD, was a step forward for the band when they incorporated a more gothic sound to the mix. Dark Days lacks on improvement though. Dez still singing his corny lyrics and sounding like the cookie monster and Meegs still riding those two note songs. It would have been nice to see some more addition to the song writing but that is not apparent. Now, what I do like about the CD is exactly what i said. It's exactly what any fan of coal chamber should expect. Anyone who has not heard anything by them up to this point should stay away though cause this will come off as just plain bad.
An aggressive yet rather redundant swan song...
2009-05-07 - Coal Chamber's `Chamber Music' was a defining album in my early adolescence. I remember standing in a Sam Goody while on vacation with my family in Texas. I had only really teased the idea of heavy rock music, mostly still obsessed with rap music and pop music. I saw this CD on display and the headphones were attached and so I picked them up and pressed play. All of a sudden my eardrums were flooded with the aggression filled `Notion' and I was instantly hooked. My parents, dead set against heavy metal in any form, would never had allowed me to own that album and since I was with them I actually had to wait about another month before getting away long enough to buy the album and sneak it into my house.
I've been in love with Coal Chamber ever since.
Now, truth remains that `Chamber Music', to me, is their most experimental and interesting album to date (sadly they broke up and Dez formed the less interesting Devil Driver). `Dark Days' is a very nice swan song though, but while it reverts back to their debut sound (and I loved their debut album) it has a tendency of sounding rather complacent, which is sad because we should always be growing.
The album is just about 100% aggression. The soft moments are what I think helped separate `Chamber Music' from their other work and create something special, but I love their form of aggression so I cannot complain.
The three most popular tracks here are no doubt `Fiend' (the first single) and the two tracks that appeared on soundtracks, `Glow' and `Something Told Me'. I love `Fiend', which gets the album jump started perfectly with pure anger and a fierceness that only Dez's baritone vocals can get across. I like `Glow' a lot. I love the interesting musical arrangement used to give the track uniqueness. In all honesty, I am not a fan of `Something Told Me'...it just feels rather lazy to me.
The rest of the album, much like these three tracks, is an onslaught of head-banging metal. `Watershed' is a brilliant example of the bands ability to pound out prime `fight music'. This is the type of music that makes you want to hit someone. My one criticism is that with no real varying style here the tracks can become rather redundant after a while and so they lose their effect. They all start to resemble one another, with the same structures and compositions. It lacks the fluctuation of `Chamber Music' and so it becomes `just another rock album' with nothing special to hook you.
Sure, `One Step' and `Friend' are really fun and really edgy songs; and the hooks are phenomenal, but they are still nothing mind bending. I think the word used was `revolutionary'. There is nothing revolutionary about this album.
None of the songs are `bad'. `Alienate Me', `Drove', `Beckoned'; they are heavy and aggressive and abrasive and `classic' Coal Chamber, but they are also kind of lazy if you want to be honest here.
And then you have the title track, `Dark Days', in all its splendid glory. The song is perfect from start to finish. It has that softness in parts, the delicacy that `Chamber Music' introduced and it takes advantage of it by shattering us with their uncanny form of brutality. It is the best track on the album; hands down. I also thought that `Empty Jar' used that same formula well, but with a very different sound so kudos to them for that. And then you have the `Row Boat' cover by the band Flood.
Flawless.
It is creepy and edgy and perfectly simple. There isn't much to the track at all. The chords are simple, the lyrics are simple but the end result is more than powerful. Dez's voice is a perfect fit for this track.
So, my ending thoughts here are that the album is good, if not a little repetitive, but it serves its purpose. `Dark Days', `Row Boat', `Fiend', `Friend' and `One Step' are the best tracks here and all definitely top notch Coal Chamber, but the balance of the album, while good, can feel like sloppy seconds at times; like nothing more than filler. If you are a fan of the band then by all means dig in, but if you are looking for an album to introduce you check out `Chamber Music' or their self titled debut.
Fits into CC's golden line up 
2007-02-16 - Deff one of CC's greatest cd's along with their previous two. This is most certainly their most Metal and heaviest album. The most focused guitar attack by them too. Some repetativeness but overall every song has its good qualties and it has some of CC's best work. Somethign Told Me and Dark Days deff two of their strongest songs ever. This album would be the last quality work set forth by them in my opinion. I find myself listening to CC all the time on their first three outputs.
Drop-tune, off-beat, REPEAT. 
2006-09-21 - Over the course of three albums, Coal Chamber has had surprisingly little to say. They still use the same set of rhythms on almost every song, the same two or three notes, the same banal rap-scream shtick accompanied by the requisite cringeworthy lyrics about big trucks and burning things. Or something.
The truth is this is the exact same record they debuted with but on a bigger recording budget. Why they would want to repeat that sonic abortion we may never know. Most everything here is either a rip on one of their superior forebears or a rip on themselves. The former is more common than the latter as Coal Chamber rarely produces any original ideas of their own.
Mercifully this was to be their last record. "Rowboat" is actually an acceptable track (mostly for its comedic effect,) but outside of that Dark Days is an absurd waste of time. The grooves are recycled and mundane. The riffs are all identical. The lyrics vary from awful to 'banging my head against the wall in an attempt to disable auditory function.' In summation, just avoid it. You'll be saving yourself one heck of a drop-tuning-induced headache.
Mine is the empty jar
2006-02-14 - With all that's been said about Coal Chamber, be it all the elongated absences between records, the constant fueding between band members, or the mere fact that they were lumped in with the nu metal genre, the one thing that I don't think can easily be disputed is that this is probably their best and most focused CD.
I loved their self titled debut but wasn't fond of the different direction they took on Chamber Music. With the release of Dark Days, however, we find the band getting back to their roots and playing the music that fits them best. Dez's voice is much more angry, at times his screams are so intense that it's not surprising at all that he moved on to a heavier band, and the music is even better than on the previous CDs. The lyrics aren't masterful, in fact they tend to be repetative and unimaginative, but still, they get the point across. There is the occassional exception though, Friend?, a declaration of a friendship gone awry, is something every person has wanted to say to someone at one time or another. Rowboat is the other true exception. Everything about that song is covered in intensity.
The CD keeps its pace steady throughout the entire record, there's no real light moments to be found and Dez does no accountable singing, so basically what you have is a straight up heavy CD. Three songs on this disc really stand out as some of Coal Chamber's best material, those being Friend?, Rowboat, and Empty Jar. Rowboat, I'm convinced, is Coal Chamber's shining moment as a band. I seriously doubt any song of their's is as 'out there' as this, and the chorus is as memorable as you can get. Empty Jar uses Dez's different vocal techniques to perfection, be it spoken word, distorted, or screaming, it's all here.
Dark Days isn't without its misses though. Watershed is a catchy song but falls flat when it should gain momentum. One Step is another very catchy song, but in the end it's far too repetative for its own good. Then you have the wreck of a song Drove. I've tried to like it but the lyrics are extremely corny, the vocal delivery is lame, and the music just isn't up to par. Aside from the afformentioned Drove, even the low points are fun to listen to, so that says something to this album's quality.
My favorite songs are Something Told Me, Dark Days, Friend?, Rowboat, and Empty Jar. Sadly this was (I think) Coal Chamber's last actual CD full of new material. People can say what they want but I really liked this band and it's a shame they couldn't work their own pety differences out. Dez's new band Devildriver is good but I still yearn to hear new Coal Chamber, and judging from Dark Days, the future would've been quite kind to them.
