Three years of silence from the iconic heavy metal group Disturbed left a lot of fans anticipating the day their next album would be released and boy was the wait worth it in the end. There is no doubt their cover of “The Sound of Silence” was one of if not the greatest song they had put out and opened a lot new doors to the band to explore a more softer rock sound. On the other hand the release of the cover was so well received it set a high bar for them to reach on whatever new project they were to come out with and they continue to set the bar higher and higher.
I have never been the biggest fan of Disturbed, of course their biggest songs “Down With the Sickness,” “Stricken,” and “Stupify” have blasted through my car stereo without the thought of changing the channel so I can understand the hype for the band. Unlike previous albums, Evolution takes from different genres, styles, and sounds to create something no person was expecting. Of the ten new songs released there were only a couple I did not enjoy straight from the beginning. The biggest surprise to me was the amount of slower more relaxed sounding tracks they included on the album. David Draiman was able to really explore his own sound switching from his known rugged growl to a beautifully hypnotic voice everybody has fallen in love with. The band is able to retain their signature heavy sound but perfectly blends it with a softer tone. New elements such as the heavily acoustic influenced songs as well as slipping in electronic synthesized sounds are what make this album so unique and fun to listen to.
Although I cannot say a single newly released song was bad, I ranked the three of my personal favorite with “The Last Ones Lie” being my favorite while “A Reason to Fight” came in at third on my list. “Are You Ready” slipped in at the second spot. I urge every heavy metal fan to go give their new album a listen it’s definitely worth your time.
1st Hand Music 