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DISTURBED
Immortalized
Reprise Records - 2015
http://www.disturbed1.com

After a four year absence in which the individual band members took time to work on side projects and secret recording sessions to compose Immortalized, DISTURBED is back in action and it is like they never left. The 16 song Immortalized album (13 main tracks and 3 bonus cuts) is well worth the cost of admission.

Despite the negative reaction by some music fans due to complaints about the band for a repetitive sound and the now parodied vocal stylings of David Draiman, I've always found each successive release from the band to be largely entertaining.

That opinion doesn't change with their new release. Following a brief and largely forgettable instrumental intro, the album explodes in your face with the title track. The pacing of the album is largely up tempo and pauses only briefly (a song here and there) to let you catch your breath.

There's an animated video for the first single released from the CD, "The Vengeful One". It is an animated piece and in all honesty, the song is far and away better than the video.

DISTURBED's storytelling on the album ranges from pure flat out rockers like "Open Your Eyes" and "What Are You Waiting For" to the expressed grief of losing a lifelong friend on "Save Our Last Goodbye". That song was a bit noteworthy for incorporating the answering machine message from the friend as well as being dedicated to the man's family.

The lyrics also weigh in on topical subjects of the day in tracks like "Who Taught You How To Hate" and the bonus track "Legion Of Monsters", which finds Draiman taking the media to task over their tendency to make mass murderers more famous than the people that they killed. It is unfortunately a rather timely musical statement.

And while that instantly identifiable raspy vocal styling of Draiman's reigns supreme during the vocal performances, there were a couple of instances where he backed off a little bit for more of a clean vocal take. Not fully, but enough to notice the difference. There was the band's cover of SIMON & GARFUNKEL's "The Sound Of Silence" which was dramatically different from the original song. There's an even slower and more maudlin arrangement to the performance. As the song progressed, it got more epic in scope and the vocals became even more pronounced and that rasp crept back in a little.

The other track to feature more of a clean vocal take also ended up being one of my favorite songs on the disc. "The Light" finds the restrained vocals giving more depth of feeling to the song as a whole. And there's a really great line in "Sometimes darkness can show you the light" that resonated with me.

No one is perfect of course, despite the wish for the contrary and for me, the biggest failure of writing in my opinion was the blatantly pro-marijuana song "Fire It Up". I have no use for the substance and find it hard to support in any way the glorification of it. I know that is likely going to be seen as a potential character flaw in my review, but there it is.

Beyond that one mis-step, Immortalized is what I always hope for when DISTURBED releases a new album. A highly energetic collection of songs with power and passion that needs to be heard by any and all.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

Order your copy of Immortalized in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.