Disturbed

Chicago's most disturbed brethren don't mess with their proven formula on Indestructible, delivering a bullet-proof siege of riff-driven cover fire for frontman David Draiman's rugged ballast of vocals. While there is plenty here that’s been heard before–whether from Disturbed or any of the multitude of classic metal bands that they borrow liberally from in their songwriting–it works in a way that builds on the band's previous three albums, rather than delving into the depths of repetition. Sure, the cackling howls that open "Perfect Insanity" and "Criminal" have become Draiman's signature, but to counter the throaty grunts that introduce "The Curse," there's the black metal vocal breakdown that plunges "Enough" to refreshingly dark depths. Powerful and polished throughout, Disturbed's vocals have never sounded better. Neither have their guitars.

"Inside The Fire" plays like a slowed down dip through Pantera's "Primal Concrete Sledge," Dan Donegan shining with his first of the album’s many progressive guitar runs that drive Indestructible far beyond the driven-to-tears ranks of today's stale metal retreads. “The Night” recalls Chris DeGarmo-era Queensryche bleeding into Justice-era Metallica, Donegan (who also produced the album) emerging loud and clearly as a guitar hero for the modern day as the bottom end crushes through the darkness with a conviction that is not only catchy, but comforting. “Torn” is a bruising metal beast of epic proportions that ranks amongst Disturbed's proudest moments (vintage metal guitar solo and all), double-bass drums propel "The Haunted," and electronics offer a depth and texture that steers "Deceiver" into the prog-metal realm of Dream Theater at their heaviest, a territory the band aren't afraid to occupy throughout. Indestructible is already Disturbed’s crowning achievement as a band; it just may prove commercial metal's best hope for the future, as well.

Paul Gargano
06.11.08

Disturbed's fourth full-length offering announces its arrival with an air-raid siren. It's an appropriate gesture for the popular Chicago-based metal collective, whose rapid ascension from buzzed-about Ozzfest highlight to commercial hard rock juggernaut has been as divisive as it has been impressive. While Indestructible doesn't meddle with the melodic hard-hitting Pantera-inspired formula that fueled its predecessors, the dreaded nu-metal tag that followed the band out of the turn of the century seems wholly eradicated. If anything, Disturbed owe more to early-'90s Metallica and Brian Johnson-era AC/DC than they do Tool or Korn, as each staccato, tech-heavy riff is balanced out by some truly artful soloing and frontman David Draiman's mean and melodious pipes. Standout cuts like "Inside the Fire," "Deceiver, " "The Curse," and the skull-cracking title track, even though they could have appeared on any of the group's first three records, still manage to fire on every cylinder. Like its closest contemporary, Godsmack, this is a band that favors reliability over experimentation, and each piece of Indestructible, whether it's the pseudo-horror/fantasy artwork, the drop-D riffing, or the obligatory "shout-outs" in the liner notes to the purveyors of each member's gear endorsement deals, fits together like the world's most obvious puzzle. That said, there's a reason each of the group's previous albums bested the million mark, and with metal growing increasingly self-aware and divided between hardcore and hard rock, a new Disturbed record seems like a solid foundation on which to duke it out. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide