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 It's hard to believe that it's been more than eight years since Disturbed unloaded their sickness on the world, and sometimes harder still to remember that the have now had three albums top the Billboard Top 200 in the United States, with the bands latest album claiming the honour on it's release earlier this year.
Disturbed are a band that over that period have caused many divisions within the metal world, with people finding it hard to classify the band as a metal band, always searching to tie the band with this or that genre. Disturbed continue on regardless, and their record leaves nothing that needs to be defended.
While that chart success has never entirely been mirrored in the UK, every time the band return to these shores, the venues get larger, the crowds get bigger.
Following the bands sold out performance at London's Brixton Academy, and the opening night of the bands latest European tour, Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott had the opportunity to catch up with vocalist David Draiman to talk about the bands position in the ever changing landscape of the metalverse, the bands latest album Indestructible, while also taking a moment to reflect on Draiman's performance on the soundtrack to the movie Queen of the Damned.
You're on tour in
Europe right now. How have you found the tour to be going so far?
Pretty amazing really.
You really can't beat the exuberance out here. I think they aught to
start giving classes to the US kids.
In what way?
The energy level.
People in Europe in general just have a different level of passion
for the events that they attend, whether it's a live performance or a
sporting event, it's just a whole other level out here. We just love
getting the kind of energy exchange we get out here.
Is there anything
you've been able to put your finger on as to why there is such a
difference?
I think maybe the US
crowds may be a little spoiled. They get it more often maybe,
particularly from the American acts than the European audiences do,
and I think that when you're accustomed to it, it's not as precious
to you maybe.
That can be said maybe
of the music aspect of things, but certainly not the sport aspect of
things. There's just a different level of passion here. I wish I
could put my finger on exactly why, but the only thing in the States
from a sporting perspective that comes close to watching a European
football game is going to a college level American Football game -
not even pro level - they're much more intense. With the unified
cheers and everybody really being involved, that's the only thing
that kinda comes close.
We always look forward
to coming out here and being able to experience it.
You mention college
football, Yankees/Red Sox in baseball always seems to come close.
It has hype, but I
guarantee you that that crowd does not react the same. I guarantee
you. I honestly don't think it holds a candle to what you guys do out
here.
You've obviously as
a band have big goals. At the London concert you said to the audience
in Brixton that the next time you came back you wanted to be playing
the O2 Arena.
I said let's try!
[Laughs]
Is that a goal you
think you're going to be able to reach?
Who knows? I'd love to
be able to. If you're going to aim, you should aim high shouldn't
you?
Aim for the sky or
you'll never get there.
Yeah. Never is really
not a word in our vocabulary. We live to aspire, and I think things
have grown tremendously for us in this part of the world, and
hopefully things will continue to do so as long as we stick with it
and we keep putting out records that people appreciate and enjoy.
I think that's the
only way to look at it really. The other thing that you said that
really confused me was when you said that you were a metal band, then
stopped and said, "No, I'm going to say we're a metal band." I
always thought you were a metal band.
Lots of people have
this conception that we don't fit in the metal genre because we're
too melodic, not heavy enough. The irony of that is that if you look
at the classic metal bands of all time, are we really that different
from them?
That was what I
thought. I was very confused, I've never thought you weren't.
There are those that
would deny us our metal colours if you will. I think it's really only
up to us as to where our influences come from.
Truth be told, metal in
modern times has become metalcore, has become a genre that is fusion
of thrash and New York Hardcore. That's great, and I really do love a
lot of those bands. I'm a fan of Lamb of God, a fan of Killswitch
Engage, a fan of Shadows Fall, a fan of a lot of those bands that fit
into that categorisation.
I know that we don't
really have a whole lot in common with them from certain
perspectives, and if that's what's defined by the youth of today as
metal, then categorically our identification is challenged.
 Do you think that's
an overall problem with people trying to genrefy things too much
rather than being more accepting?
I really do. I think at
the end of the day, we are Disturbed and it is what it is no matter
what you want to call it. Whether that's hard rock or heavy metal or
whatever. If you ask us, the guys that actually write and perform the
songs, then that's what we think we are.
You are a metal band
because that's what you say you are.
Yeah. [laughs]. Well
you could go ahead and play circus music and call yourself a metal
band, but that doesn't make you a metal band!
I think that when we
get the respect of bands like Metallica and Judas Priest and Maiden
which we have, and Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne... who more do you
really do you need to acknowledge you and pay respect to you? So, if
they think we're metal, what's some snot nosed little kid who's been
dirtying himself in his basement whacking off to internet porn who's
clutching ever so dearly to his new girlfriend - ie unknown
metalcore - and will remain cherished and awesome until they're
exposed to more than 250,000 people to say otherwise?
Unfortunately it's
those individuals, who believe it or not, begrudgingly still like us!
Still can't deny that the songs are catchy, still can't deny that on
the Mayhem festival this summer we kicked ass, they can't deny it.
They can try to be hard asses, they can try to be cooler than thou,
they can try to be anything they want to be, but at the end of the
day we're going to call ourselves what we want to call ourselves.
That's where that comment really came form.
That's a better
answer than I could ever have hoped you could have given. The other
thing I wanted to touch on from the performance which completely
threw me which was the drums solo during the encore. It was something
that I'd never seen before, but worked brilliantly going into Down
With The Sickness. Is that something that you've often done in the
past?
We have done it before,
but we haven't done for a while. It's something we normally save for
Music is a Weapon in the United Sates, to do some more of the solos,
the more elaborate things, but you know, we really wanted to take
this European Tour up a notch. While the lineup isn't as extensive as
maybe we'd have liked it to be, had we been able to a more extensive
touring package, a three of four band bill, - don't get me wrong,
Shinedown are amazing, and we're really happy to have them out with
us - two bands doesn't make Music As A Weapon. So we couldn't really
call it that out here.
What we could do though
was still give people a longer set - we've been playing for about
an hour and a half each night - giving them a very wide range of
material from all four records. Songs people haven't heard in years
as well as a good infusion of material from the new record. I
personally love Mikey's [Wengren] solo. It's one of my favourite
points of the set. Obviously it lets me have a little bit of a break!
[laughs]
It definitely does set
up the Sickness, there's no doubt.
It was perfect, and
because it was in the encore it was completely unexpected. I think
sometimes being surprised at a gig can make it much more important as
a member of the audience. You've had your expectations rearranged.
I'll let him know!
You mentioned that
you're playing a fair amount of material from the new album. How have
you found that going down in the live arena? To people respond well
to it?
Unreal! People's
reaction to these new songs are very intense. Last night when we
played Inside The Fire, the biggest circle pit of the tour erupted.
The reaction to Indestructible live is gigantic. The reaction to any
number of the new tracks... Haunted another one... the entire croud
gets into it. The Night - I heard so many people singing, louder
than I could. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and
I can only hope that it has a similar effect on everyone else who's
engaging in it.
It's a very personal
album for you as well, so it's got to make it even more meaningful
for you when you hear a crowd getting into it like that.
Absolutely! You always
do take a risk when you bare your soul to the world, it's a
frightening undertaking. You definitely are hopeful that people will
embrace it, but to actually feel the embrace is a very comforting
thing.
 It must be an
amazing cathartic feeling.
Very much so. Our music
is meant to be cathartic not only for us, but for anyone else who can
invest in the meanings of the songs and has life experience that
mirrors or are similar to them, and help them to come to terms with
their own challenges in their own lives.
Generally the catharsis
on my level becomes complete when I've been able to translate an
internal pain into the music and to let it out to people. That
definitely closes the door.
That's a fantastic
thing to be able to do. Indestructible was the third single from the
album, are you already looking toward working on a fifth album?
Not anywhere near!
Perfect Insanity was not technically the first single, it was just
one of those tracks that we threw out there, so technically
Indestructible is the second single from the album. My understanding
from the label is that we're going to go five singles deep on this
record. So, we've got at least 3 more coming.
The fifth albums a
way off yet then?
Yeah I'd say so,
although Danny has been really riffing his heart out in the dressing
room, and some of the material he's been coming up with has been very
very inspiring. I can't wait to get a little two or three part
progression of the stuff so I can start working on my melodies and my
vocals for it.
When you did the
track for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, to me it was a very
different sound for you, a very different song to what you had done
before. How did you feel about that?
I loved it. I thought
that the experience of working with Jonathan Davis was amazing. I
loved the song, I thought it was very ethereal and spooky, I loved
the vibe of it. I was very very into it. I kinda did my own thing
with it to if you listen to his version of it and mine, they're
slightly different. I went into it head first, and was very pleased
with the whole experience. I'd relish the opportunity of doing
something like that again.
It's the highlight
of the soundtrack as a whole. Is it something you can see yourself
playing on a Disturbed tour?
Unfortunately not,
cause it's not our song, it's John's song. I think he's played it,
believe it or not, on his acoustic tour.
But it's not
something you're in a position to do?
You know something, if
us and KoRn ever tour together again, and he wants to invite me up
there to do it with him, I'd be more than honoured. It really isn't
our song to perform, it is his, and you have to give them that
respect.
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