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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not All Nu-Metal Is The Same Waters Being Dragged, 26 Sep 2003
Nu-metal's going to die soon, there is no doubt about it. Just as the thrash revolution of the early nineties and the grunge movement did, yet some bands try to keep it going, where others just try to escape its reputation. In honesty, there are very few original or different nu-metal bands, even less that I have time for, but there are one or two. The likes of Cold and American Head Charge, may be nearer to nu-metal than anything else but I do enjoy them because they sound different to the rest of the dirge on the market, be it instrumentally or vocally (in Cold's case, both). And this band, Disturbed are shall we say, interesting me. They possess some fine almost thrash-esque qualities in the instrumentalism, and some of the best vocals in their range, and it's just insane and no holds barred. And then there's the majesty of it all. And what's wrong with a little bit of majesty?It is after all what separates them from the rest. There is a crunch to Disturbed's guitar techniques and sounds, but it's vocalist David Draiman's vocals that separate them. From screaming on the likes of lead single, 'Prayer' 's chorus, to gruff gritty vocals and monkey hollering on the likes of, 'Awaken', and he also possesses something quite special, something that isn't heard that much these days, for ending track, 'Darkness' is Disturbed's first ballad, and it is a stunning piece of work both instrumentally, but the focus is always on those strong vocals. 'Darkness' is sure to be a crowd pleaser with a few lighters flying around and a chant-along style to it, it is one of 'Believe' 's highlights, but is unlike any other of the other 11 songs. If there's one thing you won't get with Disturbed, it's a lot of diversity. 'Awaken' does have various similarities to first single, 'Prayer' for example, but don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that you'll be getting the same dirge through every track and be bored halfway through. On the albums title track, Draiman changes his vocals again to a more 'majestic' style, to add another dimension to Disturbed, proving once again that he is a more diverse front man than the band are diverse musicians. It is indeed rare to find a vocalist that can do just about everything. For those total metal-heads, 'Liberate' is just a pure thrash along which doesn't let up and is exhilarating, but to the more thoughtful of us, becomes dull after the second chorus. Despite many similarities throughout songs, you'd thing that I'd actually be pulling them down. But I can't, there just seems to be some sort of aggravating magic around Disturbed, and for some reason you get the feeling with some of the songs through 'Believe' that if God himself was going to sing, it would be as powerfully and majestically as Draiman. I have been complimenting the vocals a lot, but I haven't said much about the instrumentalism. Well if I'm honest, they're nothing out of the ordinary. Sure, they have their ups and downs, and they work well with the vocals that surround the area, but Disturbed musicians don't experiment, which is such a shame, since I get the feeling that if they tried they surely could. 'Remember' is a good example of an all-round complete band effort, as once again, is the opened 'Prayer'. So Disturbed are not perfect, but who is? This is good music at least and I do believe that Disturbed are yet to hit their creative peak, and although they haven't differed an awful lot from their debut, you can sense that they're learning and they will carry on learning. There is a lot of talent waiting to burst out of this band and despite Draiman's constant vocal barrages, it just won't burst out until they break the cycle and experiment a little more. But for now this is at least a little enthralling and most of all interesting. Disturbed are a good band that will become a great band, if they actually believe in themselves. 3.5 Stars.
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