To date, Disturbed has succeeded in rattling audiences globally with their politically charged, heavy metal sound since the release of the debut album The Sickness in 2000 that sold over 3.4 million copies. The band’s longevity has surpassed the fate that haunts beginning bands when they enter music’s competitive corporate industry. The band made a name for itself touring extensively for well over a year on the back of their debut offering. They were subsequently invited to join Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest tour in 2001 alongside Black Sabbath and Marilyn Manson.

“That really was a tour I will never forget as it was a major turning point in our career,” explains axe-man Dan Donegan from his house in Chicago. “_The Sickness_ had just had such a brilliant reception in the States and each time we hit the stage the crowd would erupt!”

While The Sickness received mixed reviews in the press, it was the turning key in unlocking a legion of fans world over who had connected with the band’s unique sound and overall message. The band however was still finding their way through the motions of having a very rapid rise in popularity. “Looking back on it, we were still very new to that high level touring and the Ozzfest taught us how bands such as Black Sabbath and Marilyn Manson could night after night go out onstage and blow everyone away. I remember watching both of them each night thinking how amazing it was that both Ozzy and Marilyn could back it up with almost minimal effort…utter professionals!”

Following the success of the first album, Believe (2002) has to-date sold 1.6 million copies. Disturbed still remained on the forefront of alternative hard rock bands. The band has successful balanced poignant lyrical content with a vicious sound that is arguably unlike any other on the current rock radar. “I would say our sound was pretty far from anything else on the scene. Sure, there is only so much different a distorted effects rack can make and only so many time signatures that you can play with…but combine David’s [Draiman] vocals and Mike’s [Wengren] drums and mix that with what is happening with the bass and guitars – it’s a sound we have worked at for a number of years and a sound that we are very proud of.”

Disturbed has certainly kept the integrity to a real metal sound and added their own ominous tone. Draiman’s lyrics have attitude, showcasing the values that they believe in, giving the people the most honest music produced to date. The abrasive, yet melodic sound was built from each member’s taste in music. Their unification of musical backgrounds range from the Sex Pistols, Pantera to Black Sabbath, giving Disturbed’s sound a crunch and grind that separates them from the derisive accumulation of bands.

The band’s latest concoction is proof. Simplifying the meaning and passion behind Indestructible, Dan explains, “It represents the philosophy of individuality, the development of self, and finding the things in life that you are passionate about that brings you meaning but at the same time not being able to get knocked down and to always push forward at any cost.”

Indestructible isn’t a confrontational slugfest of angry, misanthropic songs about wicked women and shattered lives. Instead, Draiman has used his experiences as a springboard to address larger issues including mortality, redemption and hypocrisy. Rather than simply rant, [as on Disturbed’s double-platinum 2000 debut, The Sickness, this album points questions. While it rarely offer concrete answers, the lyrics raise provocative points that make Indestructible more mature and thought-out than most metal discs.

“To us, it’s even heavier than our entire back catalogue, and there’s more attitude to it,” he says. “I know ‘heavy’ is a relative term, but to me, heavy isn’t just Cookie Monster vocals and playing as fast as you can. Heavy metal, to me, was the classic metal bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest — guitar- driven bands with powerful, melodic vocals. David [Draiman] is a melodic singer, like Bruce Dickinson. For these hardcore fans who hear melody in a song and think a band’s soft or that we’re not metal enough for them, oh well. The metal I grew up on were those classic bands that are still playing today and are respected by everybody. That’s the path we’ve always tried to go down, and we seem to be going down that path.”

For Disturbed, the biggest challenge making Indestructible was the production of it. The band decided they wanted to handle it themselves, which their label and management weren’t so sure about at first. “We had to make sure they were OK with us doing it without another set of ears in there — someone who could referee those times where we might be battling it out,” he recalls. “We’re just so comfortable with each other, and just so respectful of what each guy’s role is in the songwriting and recording process, that once we got the first couple of songs tracked, it was enough to keep the label and management out of the way. Removing that producer role had people more on the edge of their seats, just making sure we could handle it that way, without somebody else, and we proved to them — and ourselves — that we can. And it gave us the best record we’ve made yet.”

Thematically, the record’s also one of the darkest records the band’s churned out. The LP’s first single, Inside the Fire may be the most personal of all the record’s tracks, and the video is a reflection of that, Donegan said. Directed by Nathan Cox, it deals with the same theme the song tackles: suicide.

“It’s the darkest song David’s written, and it has a personal connection to him; it’s about an ex-girlfriend of his, when he was a lot younger, who committed suicide — she overdosed,” the guitarist explains. “The video has to do with that same subject, but it’s his girlfriend hanging herself. At the front of the video, we wanted to get a suicide prevention hotline number up there, so there’s no misinterpretation of what we’re saying. We’re not condoning suicide, but raising awareness to the issue, so anyone who feels suicidal or is depressed or going through a hard time, hopefully it will hit those people enough to make them know that there’s somebody out there willing to listen to them, so maybe they should talk to someone else if they have those feelings.

“It’s about a girl he was in a relationship with. She’s committed suicide, and he just has the voice of the devil over his shoulder trying to provoke him to take his own life to join her again, because the only chance for him to be with her again is if he takes his life. We’re not condoning suicide off of this – it’s just more of the temptation to join a girlfriend that was very confused and messed up and wanted out.”

The band will spend the rest of 2008 on the road promoting the album globally. Dan has hinted that the band would love to make it to Australia by September if all goes to plan. And they have good reason to make it back to our isolated corner of the globe. “Were definitely coming back on this tour, we have been to Australia a number of times now. Once in support of Korn and then we have toured and played our own headlining shows. Not only have the Australian audiences embraced us since the very early on in our band’s history – but also we have played some of our most memorable shows down under.”

When asked what fans can expect from Indestructible, Dan offers, “We continue to evolve as players and songwriters. I don’t know the magic formula to being able to do it, except that we go into it with the mindset that we’re doing it for ourselves and meeting our own expectations. You can’t guess what the rest of the world wants. But our fans have proven they’re with us, and they’re here to stay and we’re certainly not going anywhere — whether you like it or not.”

Get your grubby hands on a copy of Indestructible, as it is out now.