6 Reasons To Get Pumped For Disturbed At Soundwave 2016

UPDATE 17/12/15 5.50pm: Soundwave 2016 has been officially cancelled.

Following on from last night’s Soundwave 2016 lineup announcement, Music Feeds is pretty darn pumped about all the great acts announced, especially because we finally have a headliner in the form of Chicago heavy metal giants Disturbed. Hells yeah.

Renaming themselves in 1996 after beginning under the name Brawl, Disturbed rocketed to fame in 2000 with their debut album The Sickness and its lead single, Down With The Sickness.

Since becoming heavy music royalty, the band have notched up countless hits and around two decades of playing together, so they’re a no-brainer to headline Soundwave 2016 alongside heavy hitters like Deftones and NOFX.

Disturbed’s Soundwave headline slot comes after the band took a four year hiatus, but that’s not the only reason to get pumped for their upcoming Aussie sets — here are another six.

1. Disturbed’s new album is sick

Coming back from a four year hiatus, some bands might be a little slow on their feet. Disturbed, though, have wasted no time unleashing new material in the form of Immortalized, their sixth studio album and one of their strongest.

The album’s lead single The Vengeful One is a full-tilt sonic assault on the senses, with Disturbed deploying their trademark heavy sound with uncensored brutality, topping it off with an equally brutal music video to match.

The clip (below) is nuts — it takes aim at the media and sees the band’s mascot The Guy ride a motorcycle down to Earth and shoot his way through a serious of robotic news presenters and demonic producers. So you know, it’s a bit of fun.

Watch: Disturbed – The Vengeful One

2. Disturbed haven’t played in Australia since 2011

Making their last visit to our shores just before they announced their hiatus in 2011, Disturbed smashed through a packed stadium tour, leaving plenty of fans who were eager for more to be disappointed when they heard the band were taking a break.

Nonetheless, Disturbed brought their A-game on that tour, and we’re expecting them to be back in top form after their break, with reports from their US shows indicating the time they took off only strengthened their legendary live show. Check out their 2011 performance of Ten Thousand Fists at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, below.

3. Disturbed are breaking out new live material (plus all the hits)

Disturbed’s current tour will see the band wading through their back-catalogue to unearth some of the lesser known and rarer gems, but they’ll also be showing off their newer tracks.

As frontman David Draiman told the Artisan News Service, “We’ve got lots of songs that we’ve never played live, that’s for damn sure, or songs that we haven’t played live in a very, very long time, and that’s something that we’re definitely committed to doing this cycle… People wanna hear the hits too, and so you have to have a nice balance.”

4. Disturbed are a Soundwave band you can get stoned with

Despite their music and live shows being full of energy and aggression, Disturbed paid tribute to the sweet leaf on their new album with the track Fire It Up, which can be streamed below.

Disturbed are one band who’ve made it clear where they stand on the issue of recreational marijuana consumption, even if Draiman’s memory isn’t the clearest because of it. “I don’t have a photographic memory, by any means; it probably has something to do with my weed consumption,” he told Artisan News Service.

5. Drainman is a madman who hasn’t lost any of his trademark aggression

With all the weed he allegedly smokes, and the fact he’s a new father, you might think that Draiman would have mellowed in the past few years. Nope. Apparently being a father has only made him more angry at the world he’s brought his son into, with the midnight feedings not exactly helping. While we hope none of that aggression is seeping into his home life, for those us keen to watch him go mental from the barricade, it’s good news.