Formed in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1994, Coal Chamber are led by gruff vocalist Dez Fafara and operate in territory somewhere between the traditional hard riffing of Black Sabbath and the sensationalist techno rock of Marilyn Manson. Fafara met guitarist Miguel "Meegs' Rascon through a classified ad, and they later added drummer Mike Cox and bass player Rayna Foss, the room-mate of Fafara's future wife. They signed to Roadrunner Records in 1995 after being recommended by Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, and received widespread exposure in the metal press as that label's hottest new property since Machine Head. Their debut attained further strong reviews, despite having been recorded under stressful conditions - on the day recording started, Fafara's wife left him. An already intimidating suite of songs was thus transformed into something of a personal exorcism. Having previously toured with Danzig, they also supported labelmates Machine Head on their 1997 UK tour. Their sophomore set, 1999"s Chamber Music, was boosted by the inclusion of their highly popular cover version of Peter Gabriel's "Shock The Monkey", featuring Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. Foss, who gave birth to her daughter by Morgan Rose of Sevendust the same year, was temporarily replaced by Nadja Peulen. The arrangement became permanent in 2002. The band was further unsettled when Cox departed the same September.
Coal Chamber signed to Roadrunner Records and recorded their first album (both in 1996) for their self-titled debut in 1997. The album was released to critical praise, especially for the first single Loco, a track that many fans consider the bands finest work.
Their next album was released in fall of 1999 entitled Chamber Music. This album was considered a step away from the nu metal image they had engendered with their prior release, having instead a more gothic metal inspired feel. On this album also was a cover of a song originally done by Peter Gabriel in 1982 called "Shock The Monkey" with legendary rocker, Ozzy Osbourne, providing vocals in collaboration with the band's lead singer, Dez Fafara.
The band followed up with their third album Dark Days in the spring of 2002, which met with mixed reviews. Bassist Rayna Foss-Rose had left the band to raise her daughter before the album was recorded; she was replaced by Nadja Peulen, who had taken Foss-Rose's place during her pregnancy between the first two albums. Rayna had a falling out of sorts with frontman Dez Fafara saying that she and her husband had "found Christ" and would be leaving Coal Chamber for good.
Late summer 2003, saw the release of a compilation album titled Giving The Devil His Due, which included several demo tracks submitted by the band prior to their signing with Roadrunner Records in 1997, along with several alternate studio recordings and remixes of various tracks from their previous releases. Coal Chamber disbanded in 2003, shortly after lead vocalist Dez Fafara left to form the Hard Rock turned Melodic Death Metal group DevilDriver.
In June 2005, Fafara stated that Coal Chamber's hiatus is permanent and will not be reforming at any time in the future.
From Wikipedia:Coal Chamber was an American nu metal band from Los Angeles, California. Prior to Coal Chamber, Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón formed the band She's In Pain in 1992. The two decided to create Coal Chamber. The band formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2003. Their first drummer John Thor was eventually replaced by Mike Cox (who beat out his older brother for the spot). After bassist Rayna Foss joined, the Coal Chamber lineup was complete.
In late 1994, Dino Cazares of Fear Factory championed a demo tape by Coal Chamber, causing a huge local stir with gigs at The Roxy Theatre and Whisky A Go Go, eventually leading Coal Chamber to an offer to sign with Roadrunner Records.
Fafara dropped out of the band quite suddenly due to disagreements with his wife about the band. In the spring of 1995, Dez reunited with Coal Chamber, which ended his marriage but revitalized the band. With a renewed sense of energy, Coal Chamber was able to regain their deal with Roadrunner by the end of 1995.
In 1997 their debut self-titled album Coal Chamber was released. They toured very heavily supporting this album. The album spawned one single and video, "Loco." The video was also added as an extra after the ending credits of Dee Snider's film, Strangeland. The band also did an exclusive song for the soundtrack, titled "Not Living."
Chamber Music followed two years later. Between the two releases and after the band's tour with metal act Sevendust, bassist Rayna Foss married to Sevendust's drummer Morgan Rose and became pregnant, necessitating another bass player on tour, a role filled by Nadja Peulen.
Foss came back for the recording of Coal Chamber's third album, but left after the studio sessions to raise Kayla Moray Rose. Dark Days was released in the spring of 2002. Their only single and video was for the track 'Fiend'.