Heavy, dark and “pissed-off” are the operative terms for Disturbed’s new album, according to frontman David Draiman. Draiman tells Billboard.com that the quartet is about 12 songs into the set, which Disturbed is producing itself in Chicago.
Tentatively titled “Indestructible,” it’s due out in the spring of 2008 via Warner Bros. “We’re probably going to track 15 (songs), and we’ll put 12 on the record,” Draiman says.
The album’s tone, he adds, is directly inspired by “a f*cked-up couple of years” in his personal life — including a motorcycle accident, a garage fire that destroyed his truck and motorcycle, and “a number of bad relationships.”
“When we first discussed what we were going to be shooting for, vibe-wise, on the record,” Draiman recalls, “I said, ‘Guys, listen, my head is in a really in a f*cked-up place. Give me the nastiest, darkest, most brutal sh*t you can throw at me, and I’ll write to it.'”
His bandmates delivered. “Mikey (Wengren, Disturbed’s drummer) is playing faster and more furiously than ever, with more polysyncopation. Danny (Donegan) is soloing even more frequently, and the riffs are just brutal and honest and dark.
“It still has those big, melodic elements that were brought out” on Disturbed’s last two albums, “but it seems to hearken more to the extra syncopation and added rhythms and the dark, primal nature” of 2000’s “The Sickness,” he observes.
Some of the songs Draiman expects to be on “Indestructible” include “The Night,” “Inside the Fire,” “Deceiver,” “Run,” “Enough” and “Tom.” The group has also recorded a version of Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis” but isn’t sure if it will make the final cut or not.
“This Moment,” Disturbed’s contribution to the “Transformers” soundtrack, will definitely not appear on the new album, according to Draiman.
Touring will follow the new album’s release, with Draiman predicting a run of European festivals first — although it might be preceded by a short promotional trip through North America. There will also be a Music As a Weapon IV tour during the cycle, though the timing for that has not yet been determined.
