Disturbed - Asylum

Disturbed are not a band I've ever bothered with before. They're commercial, they're derivative and they are that most rash-inducing of genres, nu metal. Just the word "nu" is enough to make me laugh uncontrollably and shake my head in dismay. Ever since the heady days of Limp Bizkit, when nu metallers wore their sk8r boi chic and everything felt far too twee and ridiculous, I've had a lingering distaste for it all.

That all being said, I heard good things about the new album, Asylum. Dispensing with the nu metal sound, this was to be a heavy metal record. Loud, brash and bleak. I love me a bit of bleak. So bolstered by my possibly misguided confidence, I picked up a copy. And why not?

But I was surprised. It's actually pretty bloody good. No, it's not melodic. No, it's not subtle. No, it's not proggy or complex or any of the other things I look for in my metal. But what it is is simple, to the point, and catchy as hell. I defy even the most ardent of commercial nay-sayers to resist nodding a head to it.

I know many have said that it's just Disturbed doing their thing; competent but nothing groundbreaking. I know that many have panned the simplistic song structures, and still others have berated the "ooh look how angry I am!" vibe. This last point I can understand. Like many commercial metal bands, the front is too exaggerated to be realistic. Where I can easily believe that Mikael Akerfeldt or Tuomas Tuominen live and breathe metal, it's easy to think that Disturbed is just an act. A bravado, if you will. But let's not let that get in the way of the music just for the moment.

The songs on the album are all very bleak. Every one of them drawing inspiration from real events from lead singer David Draiman's life, although sometimes somewhat obtusely. From the Holocaust at one end, the pain of miscarriage in the middle, and the breakdown of a relationship at the other end, such is the breadth of bleak evident throughout.

In many ways the album seems emotionally confused. There are songs like The Infection, dealing with the quiet coping and the need to get out of a downward spiral. And then there are songs like Warrior or The Animal; losing control, giving in to it, and embracing the anger. It is reminiscent of a depressive's worldview. On the one hand introverted and hurting, and on the other hand driven, furious, absurdly confident.

There is a place for quiet, contemplative metal. There is a place for progressive, intricate and melodic metal. But sometimes the best therapy is to throw on something loud and heavy and thrash the shit out of it. That's where Aslyum comes in. And it fits the bill nicely.