Disturbed - Indestructible [album]

Reprise

February 17, 2009, 11:02 PM

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I like Disturbed. Always have. But even I don’t understand what is going on with their latest release Indestructible.

First of all, I never really did see the need behind Disturbed’s gimmick mascot, “The Guy”. Even more so now I see it with it's full-bodied, videogame-like depiction on the front cover of the album. It comes off as entirely thoughtless and unnecessary, especially when I sit it next to the three previous Disturbed albums. The cover looks more like it’s playing into stereotypes rather than originality.

There was a gargantuan amount of hype surrounding Indestructible by the Grammy nominated heavy metal band, as not only had we been waiting 3 years for it to drop, but the follow up to the epic Ten Thousand Fists was always going to be highly anticipated. Disturbed seem to always manage to make an album for their fans, which generally does quite well in the charts, despite never really scoring well with critics. So what is it I think of it then, if I am technically both a fan and a critic?

Title track ‘Indestructible’ rings in with lyrics “I’ve become indestructible, determination that is incorruptible” and I’m immediately reminded of the clipped, lyrical assault of the ‘Stupify’ era. There is something special to David Draiman’s vocals that are completely engaging and absolutely perfect for the Disturbed sound.

Draiman’s manic laughter for the beginning of first single from the album ‘Inside the Fire’ is a nice touch, [making the track a little more unique] and the shredding 80’s guitar riff brings good depth to the otherwise musically bland song. Once the first two tracks have played I feel completely let down!

In a move that could have either worked perfectly, or come off sounding completely out of place, Disturbed brought in 2 tracks that were written prior to first album, The Sickness. These come in the forms of “Perfect Insanity” and “Divide”. I saw the tracks going in one of two ways:

1- proving Disturbed’s sound has neither changed nor grown in over 10 years; or,

2- showing that the songs don’t fit on the album and sound out of place 10 years down the line, bringing the album down with them.

Unfortunately, by the time both tracks have played and been drowned in the samey Disturbed sound of double bass drumming and merely reasonable guitar riffs, neither comes off any more momentous or distinctive than the rest of the tracks on Indestructible. As soon as I heard that Disturbed had decided to self-produce this release rather than employ tried and trusted producer Johnny K again, I was a little wary. I wasn’t sure Disturbed had proven themselves as much as I would like in the production field, and it seems a bit like they are trying to run before they walk.

I didn’t mind Indestructible, but it’s definitely not Disturbed at their peak. Indestructible is not bad, but it’s not overly good either. With all the build up for the album, I think I was expecting something entirely more intense and memorable, which Indestructible unfortunately does not achieve. I hope once again, but I doubt it will be the case, that the fans like this one more than the critics.

Disturbed

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