Disturbed is a pretty interesting band to flip out of the nu-metal movement. They don’t do anything special, yet they manage to stay somewhat relevant.
The Sickness was the beginning of Disturbed’s rise to nu-metal stardom. Harsh angry vocals, digitized riffs, and weird screams produced an album for the ages. With such a unique sound and distinct style,
The Sickness took fans on a wild 47 minute ride, but was it as groundbreaking as they say?
The Sickness is certainly an eclectic album. David Draiman’s vocal style is the source for most recognition the album gets. His style sells the songs as more dynamic than they are. Most of the instrumentals are basic nu-metal riffs. Bends, deep chugs, and a slight industrial touch are all that there is to
The Sickness. Nothing is really noteworthy enough to call the album an advancement. ‘Voices,’ the opening track, is my favorite of the album. The song is advanced for Disturbed’s sake. The lyrics detail succumbing to the voices in one’s head with a nice breakdown of all the voices filling the atmosphere at once.
An interesting portion of the album is ‘Shout 2000.’ Disturbed covered the infamous Tears for Fears song into their own format. The cover is generic considering the content of
The Sickness. It sounds the same as any other song and uses a similar format. Aside from an up tempo muted riff, and a deeper synth than the original, ‘Shout 2000’ isn’t as experimental as it should be. The breakdown towards the bridge is unnecessary and adds nothing.
What is most disappointing of the album is the organization of tracks. The album is top heavy and drops severely after the first 5 tracks. Everything listeners will hear is exampled in the first 5 songs. All that follows is filler. 13 tracks is hefty for a debut album in the first place, but instead of having 13 *good* tracks, we have 5 decent tracks and 8 average tracks.
The Sickness is very repetitious. All songs use a similar format to the first 5 tracks. ‘Want’ and ‘God of the Mind’ follow a similar style to ‘Down With the Sickness.’ ‘Fear’ tries to emulate a similar style to KoRn. The list goes on for the uninspired efforts here, but I’m sure readers get the point.
The album could have been wrapped up in 8 tracks regardless.
The Sickness felt forced, generic, and over produced. Nothing stands out aside from what played on the radio. I remember buying this album many years ago and feeling the same as I do now.
The Sickness doesn’t have a lot going for it. Some premises caught glimpse of Disturbed’s capability. I particularly enjoy Draiman’s incorporations of Judaism as a theme. I’m sure if expanded on, that would make for an interesting narrative. Instead,
The Sickness mostly focuses on domestic abuse, mental illness, and general angst. Although these themes (aside from angst) are interesting, neither are explored deep enough to have investment.
There isn’t much else to say about
The Sickness. For a debut album, the material is vastly underwhelming. I find it hard to believe multiple outlets accredit
The Sickness as a powerful debut album. Aside from interesting cover art, the record offers nothing we haven’t heard before. Compared to most nu-metal debut albums, like
KoRn,
Slipknot,
Hybrid Theory, and
Fallen for that matter,
The Sickness ranks rather low in all aspects. Lyrically, instrumentally, and conceptually,
The Sickness is half-baked. Everything feels on the right path, but stops just short of completion. As a concept,
The Sickness works, but as an album, I can’t say the same.
Standout Tracks
Voices
