David Draiman - Vocals
Dan Donegan - Guitar / Electronics
Mike Wengren - Drums
John Moyer - Bass
Nearly a decade after the release of their groundbreaking
debut, 'The Sickness', Disturbed have become one of the most passionate
and well-respected bands in the hard-rock universe, a dependable source
not only of pummeling riffs and jackhammer beats, but of personal and
political insights into our troubled times. Yet success (in the form
of three platinum-plus albums, with both 'Believe' and 'Ten Thousand
Fists' topping Billboard's album chart and over nine million albums
sold) hasn't dulled this Chicago-based foursome's taste for adventure.
If anything, Disturbed's loyal fanbase has pushed the band to newer
heights of self-expression. So it makes sense that on the occasion of
their fourth album, 'Indestructible', that frontman David Draiman, guitarist
Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren decided to take the reins and produce
themselves in the studio.
"Doing three records with Johnny K taught us a tremendous
amount," Draiman says of the industry veteran who helmed 'The Sickness',
'Believe' and 'Ten Thousand Fists'. "We're always trying to evolve
and try new things and experiment," adds Donegan. "So this
time we wanted to do things a little bit differently." Wengren
says that 'Indestructible' - which the band tracked over three months
in Autumn 2007 at Chicago's Groovemaster Recording-afforded the band
the "opportunity to prove to ourselves and to everybody else that
we could do it." The result of Disturbed's experimentation in the
studio is the group's darkest, angriest outing yet. Inspired by two
and a half years' worth of challenging experiences, Draiman told the
rest of the band that he was in the mood to purge. Fortunately, they
were right there with him.
"We wanted to get back to some of the elements that
were maybe lacking on the last two records," says Donegan. "David's
got a great ability to sing really melodically, but we wanted him to
get back to the rhythmic, animalistic, rapid-fire delivery he's known
for. He's very hard to touch when he does that, and we wanted to give
him music to provoke that."
'Indestructible' reflects that intensity of emotion across
a broad spectrum of songs: 'Deceiver' takes to task a former girlfriend
of Draiman's whom he calls "a master of deception." 'Divide'
celebrates the will of the individual against the conformity of the
masses. In 'Haunted', which Draiman calls a veiled critique of Los Angeles
(where he lived for a few years before recently moving back to Chicago),
a place of love becomes a nightmare landscape populated by demons masquerading
in human form. 'Inside The Fire' imagines the devil encouraging the
singer to take his own life as a way of rejoining his dead girlfriend.
("Writing this record is the reason I don't have therapy bills,"
Draiman notes.)
Two of the album's most powerful tracks address the situation
in the Middle East, with 'Enough' lamenting the causes of war and the
suffering it causes, and the title track offering support for the troops
"or anyone else looking to strip themselves of fear," as Draiman
says.
Throughout 'Indestructible', Donegan, Wengren and Moyer
back up Draiman's words with some of the most visceral, sophisticated
music they've ever created. Donegan says his goal was to increase the
dynamics-"to have the highs be higher and the lows be lower"-and
to make more cohesive the relationship that exists between guitar, bass
and drums and the band's signature electronics.
"I don't wanna sound arrogant," says Wengren
with a laugh, "but I think we've made the kind of record the industry
needs right now. There are not a lot of heavy bands delivering these
days. I think our fans-and fans of this genre-will go absolutely nuts
for this." "People never lose their desire for aggressive
music," adds Draiman. "And we're happy to keep giving it to
them."
'Indestructible' is out now.
