Review Summary: The lovechild of The Sickness and Believe finally arrives.
Hmmm... So I should probably start by saying that Disturbed may be one of my favorite mainstream hard rock bands. I first listened to The Sickness about 7 or 8 years ago, not too long after it came out. I was 14 at the time and it was my first introduction to a darker and harder style of music. I fell in love at the 2:20 mark in Voices and have since listened to the album an unknown number iof times, probabl in teh tens of thousands. Just to be clear, in my opinion, this is the perfect example of what mainstream hard rock/metal should be.
The came Believe, watering down the equation on The Sickness, but once again a spectacular album. Shaving away most of the bands previous aggressiveness they showed they could write a melodic rock album and ditch the nu-metal tag stapled to their collective foreheads. Ten Thousand Fists was labeled as a slight return to form, combining the elements of The Sickness and Believe, and the description was mostly right. It somewhat awkwardly mashed the styles of the previous two albums together in what seems near every song. In the end it fell on the Sickness side of the line due to overall feel of the album.
So 3 years later and Indestructible is hyped up. Darker, harder, and faster are the key words promising a true return to form for a band whose fans merely want a Sickness Vol. 2. Leading with Inside the Fire and Perfect Insanity they even managed to make my hard on for this style return and layed the foundations of great hope. Indestructible was the promise of a new Disturbed, finally going where they should have gone after The Sickness. So after months of waiting, does it measure up to The Sickness?
Quite simply put: No.
This is not the second coming of Sickness, it is what Believe should have been when it came out. It is dark, impressively so compared to Believe and TTF, and a return to a harder sound, but the melodies are ripped straight from Believe. The syncopated and staccato harsher vocals make a complete triumphant return in most songs giving them a more aggressive feel, but the mellow sung choruses of TTF have been spiced up and give an agressive feel of their own.
Draiman is definitely playing in a whole nother game from his previous work. Of the four members, he's improved the most, bollocks to the people who claim the soloing is the best improvement. Draiman's voice manages to convey emotion for the first time since their debut, and it's a welcome change. The Night, Facade, and Deceiver all showcase his abilities the best.
The rest of the band sticks with the same formula as on the last albums, rhythmic more than melodic. The solos are a nice touch, but don't really add much to the overall feel of the album save on Inside the Fire and The Night. The drums and bass are stock rock drum and bass lines, and it would be nice to hear a little more variation and talent.
So while closer to The Sickness in terms of execution, I just can't shake the feeling that this is Believe Vol. 2 instead of what it was hyped up as. Overall, it's better than TTF but worse than the first two.
Indestructible - 7/10 - Sickness oriented
Inside the Fire - 9/10 - Ten Thousand Fists
Deceiver - 8/10 - Believe
The Night - 10/10 - Believe
Perfect Insanity - 6/10 - Sickness
Haunted - 6/10 - Believe
Enough - 8/10 - The only real progression in terms of style
The Curse - 7/10 - Sickness
Torn - 4/10 - Believe
Criminal - 7/10 - Ten Thousand Fists
Divide - 9/10 - Sickness
Facade - 9/10 - Believe
Pros:
-Harder and Darker than the last two
-Unmistakably Disturbed
Cons:
-Sounds like a collection of B-Sides with one new song
-Should have been made 6 years ago
-Only Draiman and Donegan have improved
-Lyrics aren't the best
