 
When Disturbed announced that they were going
on indefinite hiatus back in October 2011 there
were so many upset fans who had been with Disturbed
since the beginning and watched them through the
years rise from nobodies to one of the most successful
mainstream metal bands to come out of America
in a long time, a few months passed by and David
Driaman made the announcement that he had started
work on a new project called Device with former
Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo and soon recruited
Evanescence drummer Will Hunt and Dope guitarist
Virus to complete the Device line up and now a
good 10 months on since that announcement Device
are ready to release their self titled debut album.
Back in February Device premiered their debut
single ‘Vilify’ and social network
sites turned into heated debates with people claiming
‘Vilify’ to be amazing whilst other
people thought it was rubbish or sounded too much
like Disturbed, but when you have a singer like
David Driaman who has such a unique sounding voice
you will never be able to shake the Disturbed
comparison off but if you take the time to give
the band’s self titled debut album a listen
and check out the instrumental arrangements you
will realise that Device are very different from
Disturbed.
The debut album from Device really is a big power
house album it features 10 tracks and more special
guests that you could ever imagine as the likes
of Tom Morello, M Shadows, Gleen Hughes, Serj
Tankian, Geezer Butler and Lzzy Hale, giving the
band and album a proper super band feel.
The album opens with ‘You Think You Know’
and within seconds David Draiman is on a roll
with his unique sounding vocals and witty lyrics
which has Draiman singing “Get off me, you
don’t know where I have been, i’m
all fucked up you better believe me’, instrumentally
the song is quite banging with quite a lot going
as the band lay down some killer riffs and big
beats.
‘Penance’ opens up with some electronic
beats and thick riffs giving the song a big industrial
metal vibe and moments later Draiman comes in
with his trademark sounds before his vocals take
you on a catchy ride. The debut single ‘Vilify’
follows this up and the song is everything that
Disturbed fans have been crying out for since
they announced their hiatus, the song could easily
fit in with the Disturbed back catalogue yet the
electronic feel running throughout is just enough
for you to tell the two bands apart.
Early on in the album Device team up with the
incredible Lizzy Hale for a cover of ‘Close
My Eyes Forever’ which was originally performed
by Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford, the song is a
big change from the rest of the material on the
album yet it is a fantastic cover as Draiman and
Hale really push their vocals to the edge whilst
they sing “If I close my eyes forever, will
it all remain unchanged” over and over.
‘Out Of Line’ opens with some big
electronic beats as Device go all out and unleash
a monster of a track with the help of Geezer Butler
and Serj Tankian, the dual vocals from Draiman
and Tankian is fantastic as they both have such
unique voices but it is Draiman’s vocals
which shine the most as he unleashes his lines
in such an aggressive way whilst the rest of the
band go all out on the instrumental front creating
a massive head banger of a track.
No two songs on the debut Device album sound the
same as the band put everything into creating
a diverse collection of songs which all have the
potential of being fan favourites, ‘Hunted’
nearly lives up to its name with quite a spooky
feel running throughout, ‘Opinion’
features Tom Morello doing what he does best as
he lays down some insane guitar work, and ‘Haze’
has to be one of the best tracks on the album
as it really opens up the industrial sound for
device as the song is crammed with electronics
that you would only expect Trent Reznor to lay
down and vocally hearing M Shadows and David Draiman
singing alongside each other is outstanding.
Device is a very exciting project and a band that
David Draiman and co should be proud of, the album
is pretty solid sounding and will instantly be
accessible for Disturbed and Filter fans alike,
who I imagine are already crying out to hear the
songs on the live circuit.
4/5
Review by Trigger
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