HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Indestructible – Disturbed
Long before David Draiman dominated metal news with his Tinder escapades and social media wasn’t awash with bastardised versions of Down With The Sickness, DISTURBED released a slew of albums. One of those being Indestructible which celebrates its 15th anniversary to little fanfare… except for Heavy Music History’s corner of the internet.
The lead up to Indestructible was a dark time for Draiman (vocals) to say the least. “I had a motorcycle accident, and I had my garage burn down with most of my vehicles,” he would tell Rolling Stone. Draiman would also suffer a motorcycle accident and grieve the loss of a loved one which would fuel inspiration for Inside The Fire. Though it wasn’t just himself that needed bolstering. Written during the Iraq War, the title track in particular was written as an aid to those serving in the military. In the same interview with Rolling Stone, Draiman would comment; “It’s meant to be something that would make them feel invincible, take away their fear, make them strong”. Regardless of negative opinion surrounding DISTURBED, they do have a knack for writing music to boot doors clean off hinges to.
DISTURBED’s fourth album saw the band move away from the nu-metal sound which had given them their big break. Well – people would have tweeted their displeasure had the band recreated The Sickness (2000) ad nauseam. In another move for evolution, the band decided to produce the album themselves with guitarist Dan Donegan at the helm. DISTURBED set to work and the first song to be completed was The Night – which had also been the tentative title of the album. Recording an album can be tumultuous at the best of times so why not make it that little bit more arduous? John Moyer (bass) was on the cusp of becoming a father so would leave the studio mid-process. Not letting that stop them, the band would send demos to Moyer and allowed him to write basslines at home.
Though there were two tracks which needed very little work done to them. The insidious Perfect Insanity and pulsating Divide had actually been written for The Sickness. In hindsight, this actually served the band well as Indestructible wouldn’t have had the impact it did without them. Though could their cover of FAITH NO MORE’s Midlife Crisis have been better placed here than on their compilation album The Lost Children (2011)? Well if Land Of Confusion and The Sound Of Silence were good enough for mainline albums…
After a breadcrumbing promotional cycle which included a seven inch LP sold exclusively through Hot Topic, and a livestream performance from a military base in Kuwait, Indestructible was finally unleashed upon the world. Again despite the negative opinions which can surround DISTURBED, reviews were largely positive. Billboard hailed it as a “forceful sonic fusillade” which pulled from the band’s previous two records while dropping the “melodic niceties. AllMusic would praise the shift in sound in particular, penning “the dreaded nu-metal tag that followed the band out of the turn of the century seems wholly eradicated.”. Indestructible would garner some criticism however as Rolling Stone would state the album “banks on the same old angst-mongering that has fueled a zillion rock-radio hits in the past 10 years.”
Indestructible would go on to be DISTURBED’s third consecutive number one record as it topped the Billboard 200. The album would shift 253,000 units in the first week and become certified Platinum in the US in 2009. To add to the accolades, Inside The Fire would be nominated for a Grammy in Best Hard Rock Performance but ultimately lost out to THE MARS VOLTA’s Wax Simulacra.
So what of Indestructible’s legacy? 15 years on, the album is arguably one of the best in the band’s discography. DISTURBED has always been a band of darkness and edge but the shift within Indestructible marked a turning point for the band and cemented their place within the pantheon of modern metal. The live arena still welcomes Indestrucible’s material with open arms, with it making up a significant portion of their recent visit to Download. While on their own tours; the album’s material comes second to that of The Sickness. The Sickness it is not, nor does it pretend to be. Dark, aggressive, and brutal, Indestructible goes to show angst isn’t just a teenage fad. It’s a rather large cash cow, yes, but not wholly without reason.
Indestructible was originally released on June 3 2008 via Reprise Records.
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