Can you feel that? Ah, shit! Disturbed are back, ladies and gentlemen, and they’ve just dropped the motherload. Not only has the band announced the forthcoming release of their sixth studio album, Immortalized, they’ve also unleashed the disc’s lead single, The Vengeful One, which comes packing one hell of a music video.
The release triggers the end of a four-year hiatus for the heavy metal titans, who terminated the sabbatical overnight by announcing their official return:
“The hiatus is over,” Disturbed posted in a message via Twitter. “We’ve been secretly writing and recording a brand new album… This album had the arduous task of, in some way, justifying the hiatus; giving the fans something that made it worth our time away from one another. We hope that it succeeds in that task. Thank you for staying with us over the years.”
The Vengeful One sees the band at their heavy and politically-charged finest, with an outrageous animated music video that depicts the human race as a legion of robots and flesh-eating zombies who are subsequently blown to smithereens by a creepy-ass gun-toting demon astride a fabulous space motorcycle.
The band’s work on the forthcoming 13-tracker Immortalized (16 on the deluxe version) reportedly kicked off at the beginning of 2014 with singer Dave Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren gathering in Las Vegas with hotshot producer Kevin Churko (Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Hellyeah) to start writing some new songs in secret.
“It took a lot to keep things quiet,” Draiman told Billboard in an interview. “It took a lot of pain and agony and white lies and deception non-disclosure agreements. How can you explain to all your friends and family that you’re leaving home for four months to be in Vegas, y’know? To come up with something that you’re so proud of and not be able to tell anyone about or play it for anyone is torturous, believe me.”
As well as working with Churko for the first time, Immortalized also found the four Disturbed Ones, including bassist John Moyer, in the studio together for the first time since their sophomore album, 2002’s Believe.
“This was definitely the biggest collaboration we ever had,” Donegan said. “Lyrically we were all involved, musically we were all involved. Everybody opened up and said, ‘Let’s accept all ideas and just take the best of the best’.”
According to the band, the results have yielded plenty of trademark Disturbed tracks, including The Vengeful One, while also stepping into some new sonic territory, such as a creepy cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence, which also features on the album.
As Billboard reports, the bands tour plans to support Immortalized are currently up in the air. Because the project was kept so hush-hush, Disturbed’s management and agents haven’t been able to chat to promoters about potential dates without risking letting the cat out of the bag.
“I’m not sure how soon we can get back out there – how much notice we’re going to need or what tours we’re going to want to do and put together, or what seems like the right time for us to go back on the road,” Donegan said. “But we’re all excited and dying to get back out there and get on stage and play these new songs and the old stuff. I look forward to that.”
Disturbed last visited Australia just before the start of their hiatus in 2011. Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah has previously stated that he’s “not messing with no Dave Draiman”, saying the frontman would let him know as soon as the band were ready to play the festival. Looks like that time might well be now.
Immortalized, the anticipated follow-up to Disturbed 2010 album, Asylum, will be released worldwide on August 21st. Check out the official tracklisting, cover art and video for The Vengeful One, below.
Watch: Disturbed – The Vengeful One
Immortalized Official Tracklisting
1. The Eye Of The Storm
2. Immortalized
3. The Vengeful One
4. Open Your Eyes
5. The Light
6. What Are You Waiting For
7. You’re Mine
8. Who
9. Save Our Last Goodbye
10. Fire It Up
11. The Sound of Silence
12. Never Wrong
13. Who Taught You How To Hate
14. Tyrant*
15. Legion of Monsters*
16. The Brave And The Bold*
* Deluxe Only
Immortalized Cover Art
The hiatus is over. Watch our brand new music video for #TheVengefulOne now. http://t.co/J9oN9ce0lF pic.twitter.com/luoKuiT6HA
— Disturbed (@Disturbed) June 23, 2015
