If you were alive in the 90’s and 00’s then you know who the hell Disturbed are. “Stricken” was on guitar hero, they had tracks on Need for Speed, “Down With The Sickness” was a global goth kid anthem in all the nightclubs including the under 18 ones that I used to attend. David Drainmen the bands singer had those infamous chin piercings (which are now gone, yeah we’re truly old now). It is hard when you’ve reached a level of fame and notoriety for your style of music when its unique, which I must say that is exactly what these guys have accomplished over the last 24 years even though including this they’ve only put out 7 full studio albums.
If there was ever a definition of false advertising, album opener “Are You Ready” could be its definition. That song is the Disturbed I’ll always remember and grew up loving, from that point on you can tell the commercial success of their “Sound of Silence” cover has had a huge impact because the rest is very soft and slower than I could have imagined it would ever be. I’ve gone through the whole album multiple times now and literally after that first track it’s all soft and slower paced than any other Disturbed album that I have ever experienced before, it’s very clear to see that the commercial success of this cover has really impacted on the direction this took. Not to say that this material is by any stretch of the imagination bad at all, I in fact really enjoyed it and thought it was a really beautifully put together album, it’s just not Disturbed.
Coming to the end then, I am actually quite disappointed. Because one of the most consistently heavy defenders of the faith have just hopped on that bus that a lot of other bands have lately softening their style and moving forward to a future without metal. Whilst their “The Sound of Silence” cover was an absolutely phenomenal piece of work, I don’t think they’ll recapture that with their own writing as much as I feel that was the plan with this one. Sometimes when you get the comeback you want, it just doesn’t happen quite the way you wish it would.
3/5
Review by James Webb
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