Coal Chamber is officially back home after their most recent headline run of the United States. What next? Possibly another US tour announcement – nothing certain just yet, but keep checking back. In other Coal Chamber news, apparently their website has decided to take a break now that the band is off the road…actually, something has gone stray with the server for www.CoalChamber.com. We are aware, the band is aware, and all is being taken of…We’ll let you know when it is back up and running. What’s the latest word from Coal Chamber camp? Check out Inverse-Music.com – they had a chance to catch up with vocalist Dez Fafara before the band’s show at The Masquerade in Florida this past weekend. Direct link to the interview is HERE. Record Release Ramblings: Today we bring you a few words from RR US dude Marc Schapiro who was at the free US show Coal Chamber put on to celebrate the release of Dark Days! A good time was had, indeed…. “I wanted to give you all a quick recap on the Coal Chamber show at the Key Club on May 7th. I will be back in the office tomorrow with pictures and video so everyone can see what an amazing show they put on. Walking down Sunset this week, you would think that Coal Chamber was the ONLY record coming out this week. Artboard outside Tower…huge billboard outside the Whiskey…street team flyers everyhere…radio spots on KROQ…full page ad in the New Times. Monday around 8pm, kids starting lining up at Tower Records for the midnight sale. By the time the clock struck 12am, there were 150 kids lined up ready to buy the record (or a couple of copies.) Not only had these kids been waiting forever for this record, I don’t think they had showered since Chamber Music came out. The store was psyched because they were getting calls every minute for the past week. The next morning, I drove by Tower at 8:45am and there were another 50 kids that skipped school to get the record. At the end of the day, 400 kids had purchased the record to see the show that night. Fast forward to 9pm…all the industry contacts are getting liquored up thanks to drink tickets from the New Times…the Lakers are losing (good)…and then Dino of Fear Factory takes the stage to introduce the band. The crowd goes nuts as the band goes through over an hour of new and old favorites. Everyone seemed to know the words to all the new songs as well as the old. Unlike NYC, most of the industry was actually watching the show. We had great contacts from the trades, UMVD, radio, retail, press and more there to witness one of the best Coal Chamber shows I have seen.” Thanks for the line Marc, makes us jealous why doncha. Did You Know? A bit of trivia for you here today, about how Coal Chamber drummer Mike Cox garnered the nickname ‘Bug’…and from the mouth of Mike Cox, it goes like this: “Bug… I used to live with Rayna, and she would sometimes sleep for 5 days at a time. I would keep waking her up, as I would be bored, and she would keep saying ‘quit bugging me’. And then, she just started calling me ‘bug’. Once Rayna has something, she doesn’t stop, and the more it bugged me, the more she kept with it. ” Did You Know? Pt II On Coal Chamber’s debut release, the credits originally read Mike Cox, until Rayna blew a call into A&R Rep Monte Conner, telling him it should read Mike ‘Bug’ Cox. Last night (7th) the band played their record release show, a hometown gig at the Key Club in LA. Yes, this means that Dark Days is FINALLY in stores now… and that the band is together once again playing like a fuckin’ machine. Did You Know? before last night’s show, longtime friend Dino Cazares (formerly of Fear Factory) hit the stage to announce the band. Dark Days are here… the new Coal Chamber album ‘Dark Days’ is OUT NOW. The album is available as a limited edition black jewel case CD (including 3 bonus tracks) as well as the normal CD. You can save 퉌£2 at HMV with your free Download 2002 discount card you can order here. The album is ‘album of the month’ in both Metal Hammer and Rocksound! It will be available from HMV (퉌£2 off with Download Discount Card & FREE Coal Chamber patch while stocks last), Virgin, V Shop, Our Price/Sanity, MVC, Andys, and a whole range of indies (FREE CC poster while stocks last).