Disturbed
The Sickness

THE REVIEW

In music, there is an ironclad rule that, for some unknown reason, the first releases by artists (even the most famous ones) are the ones that leave a mark on you. The ones that brand you forever. For example, for Queen, Led Zeppelin, and Korn, their respective and eponymous albums were their great masterpieces.

And this album I'm talking about, even though it belongs to its specific genre, (Nu-metal), is an album that borders on a masterpiece. Let me introduce it to you right away (the album). The band hails from Chicago and is composed of Dan Donegan on guitar, Fuzz (bass), Mike Wengren (drums), and David Draiman. They formed in 1997 to create a band that, in my opinion, carved out a nice slice of fame in the metal world of the new millennium. It was a "disease" that infected many people from 2000 to 2005. In the year 0 of the new millennium, Disturbed created what was their best album to date.

The contagion is immediate. Just the first minute of the first song grabs you and makes you unleash and scream. ""Voices" is the ideal intro. To be a bit daring, I'd say it has an impact similar to ""Bombtrack" by Rage Against The Machine way back in 1990 with their first album (which, in my view, was a debut for the history books). It proceeds with ""The Game" which is introduced with a few "in-studio" effects and is entirely surrounded by electronics that give a vague impression of the '80s. Then comes ""Stupify" with a very fitting video—they are such disturbed ones: a great song. Then there's my first love of Disturbed. Yes, you heard me right. For RATM ""Killing in the Name", for Korn ""Clown" and ""Blind", for Deftones ""My Own Summer", and so on. For Disturbed, it's ""Down with the Sickness" extensively used in teenage horror movies like "Queen of the Damned" or "Dawn of the Dead" (a great remake by the way). The rhythm in the background grips you, gradually builds up your anger, and finally lets you unleash it, because you can't stay still with your head. No, it's pointless to try, you'll still nod your head anyway, don't worry. I consider it the title-track and in my opinion it is beautiful and powerful like few others.

""Violence Fetish" is another single extracted. It's very Disturbed, nothing more, nothing less, even if it's not among the best of this album (on the contrary), it's a bad omen both in the atmospheres of the song and in the trend of the CD. The next track, personally I like a lot, is called ""Fear" and it flows smoothly. A slightly "slower" track arrives (""Numb"), but it can't qualitatively bear the weight of the songs listened to so far. The same goes for ""Want", which is very commercial in truth with the pros and cons that this can bring. ""Conflict" makes strange use of electronics and effects, which, to be honest, I greatly appreciate with Draiman's voice. ""Shout 2000" I appreciate a lot as well, being an admirer of the original ""Shout" by Tears for Fears, and I find it excellently done and very exciting (from a disturbed band, what else could one expect after all). Track no. 11 I can't stand. It has a sound that is very hip-hop-ish and is too bland (except for the ending) and seems used as filler. A jarring song on this CD. A positive note is the voice. Their debut work concludes with a ""Meaning of Life" almost an invitation to understand that this is the style and music to listen to. The rhythm, especially in the final part, grabs you, lodges in your head, and makes you smile and be excited by the long phrase that Draiman pronounces more than once at the end of the song.

I would say that the album is not made by virtuosos or outstanding professionals, but is simple, raw, and direct that engages you. A friend of mine baptized them as a rather mediocre band, if not for the singer's voice. Indeed, the riffs are easy and not very intricate, but they are ideal for a voice like Draiman's, which keeps the album standing in this work. Sometimes if I imagine ""Down with the Sickness" without that voice, it makes me feel sad. Furthermore, if we take songs like ""Want" and ""Droppin' Plates" and remove David's voice, they would be as useless as a butt on the elbow.

I think this CD will appeal to the vast majority of the people who manage to read this review, and I'm confident that those who don't know them will greatly benefit from listening to it.

TRACKLIST

"Voices""The Game""Stupify""Down with the Sickness""Violence Fetish""Fear""Numb""Want""Conflict""Shout 2000""Droppin' Plates""Meaning of Life"