Disturbed
Asylum

Are there no reviews of "Asylum" on DeBaser? Quickly, before someone beats me to it!

It's 2010, two years after the half-step of that "Indestructible" which divided fans like Moses with the Red Sea. Some fans were at least disappointed and disconcerted by the flatness and repetitiveness of the album; another part, however, continued to love them as if nothing had happened. I'm not a fan of this band, but even if I were, the album would still be crap to me.

In short, our friends were called to produce an album worthy of the name, possibly without recycling themselves as they did with the previous full-length. And in August 2010, this "Asylum" comes out, preceded by singles Another Way To Die and Asylum. And I can say that when I heard them, I was impressed. I thought: this is the time for them to come back on track!

Indeed, here we are light years ahead of "Indestructible": sure, there hasn't been a significant sonic evolution, but this album has something dark, something special, that "Indestructible" doesn't have. I don't know what it is, but the fact is I like the atmosphere of the new album; it's darker, more rough, more angry than the previous one.

"Asylum" is musically divided into two parts: the first 6 songs (excluding the intro) are the best of the lot, they are the ones that make the most impact; among all, the dark title-track, the rough Warrior, and Never Again stand out positively, the latter also thanks to a fairly explicit anti-Nazi text. Another Way To Die is also nice, with its building atmosphere; The Infection is listenable. The guitars in The Animal are interesting, creating a very dark and peculiar sound. So far, so good...

From track 8, however, the album is lost in a series of perfectly avoidable fillers. For example, the banal Crucified, or the satisfying but not exceptional Serpentine; a flaw can be represented by the very (too) similar choruses. My Child is very beautiful, with a dramatic, simple, and direct text; Sacrifice and Innocence are anonymous, despite having the potential to grow and explode, they seem never to take off. The bonus track is not bad, a cover of U2, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, which shows us what the band's sound future could be if they decide to soften a bit.

In short, despite two or three poorly executed or filler tracks, "Asylum" is not a bad album at all. Sure, towards the end it can become boring, especially for the occasional listener; but it will never reach the levels of flatness of "Indestructible." A pleasant listen; nothing epic, but nothing horrible either. A positive step for a band that, in 2008, risked (and not a little) losing its way.