Immortalized [Clean]

Personnel: David Draiman (vocals, background vocals); Dan Donegan (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Mike Wengren (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Kevin Churko.
Recording information: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA; Hideout Recording Studio, Las Vegas, NV.
Illustrator: Raymond Swanland.
Photographer: Travis Shinn.
The sixth studio long player from the Windy City-based outfit, Immortalized finds Disturbed bolting down the house they finished building on 2010's Asylum, offering up a 13-track slab of vintage mid- to late-2000s heavy rock piled high with bottom-heavy riffs, piston-like percussion, and big modern rock radio-ready choruses. Immortalized has more than its share of vintage Disturbed goodies, like the soaring first single "The Vengeful One," the stadium-ready "Who Taught You How to Hate," and the nervy title track. The band's dramatic reading of Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence," which effectively utilizes the pared-down piano-and-vocal treatment that helped Gary Jules resurrect Tears for Fears' "Mad World," and the anthemic and refreshingly upbeat mid-album gem "The Light," impress with their unabashed theatricality and strong vocal turns from David Draiman. And as per usual, Don Donegan's stellar guitar work is the glue that keeps the whole affair from disappearing into the populist ether. ~ James Christopher Monger