DISTURBED — Asylum (review)

Album · 2010 · Alternative Metal

3.5/5 · 2017-09-26
Kingcrimsonprog

Asylum is the popular American Nu Metal band Disturbed's fifth full-length studio album, it came out in 2010 on Reprise Records and was their final album before their hiatus and eventual reunion and sonic rejuvination. When this album first came out I gave it a miss and skipped over the album, having became a bit numb to the band or their charm but catching them live after their reunion warmed me to the much made-fun-of band again and I subsequently decided to see what I'd been missing.

Musically it is very much in the same direction as their usual formula. A lot of press at the time described it as a bit more elongated or progressive or mature, but basically, it sounds like a typical Disturbed album. The musicianship however has gotten stronger over the years with the drums getting more rhythmically complex and the guitar solos getting more masterful. Draiman's vocal ability gets stronger and stronger with each release. I'd argue the lyrics are also stronger than they were in the beginning.

Overall, on first impression, the album struck me as pretty decent. Not perfect, but still stronger than I had been hoping for. I guess reviews at the time from neutral parties were fairly positive but all I'd been reading or listening to was from people who didn't like the band to begin with really.

Disturbed have had a mixed history with cover songs, there was the very maligned 'Shout' but then there was the very successful 'Land Of Confusion' and five years after this album came the absolute smash hit in 'The Sound Of Silence.' On this record, they drop a U2 cover in the form of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' which for me doesn't really work and is nowhere near as strong as the original material. I guess its a hidden track technically but still, I could've lived without it. Personal taste issue. Not for me.

The aforementioned original material however is pretty interesting though. The lead single, the environmentally conscious 'Another Way To Die' is pretty damn catchy and memorable. The holocaust-themed 'Never Again' is arguably one of their best to date (pretty lucky really, you wouldn't want to fumble a song about such a serious subject). The title-track and the succinct 'Warrior' are typical but notably strong Disturbed fayer.

As with all of the band's records, there maybe aren't enough ideas to fill a whole full-length. There's a little bit of filler and not every single moment is an immortal classic. There's always about half an album's worth of stuff that would be rousing and welcome live and would fit in any Best Of album or Playlist, and there's always at least a quarter of the album that you overlook after the first few weeks. Asylum is no exception. I'd be lying to you if I said I loved every moment, or that there's no song from it I wouldn't want to see live.

What you do get on Asylum however, is another five or six really great Disturbed moments to add into the collection. Nothing to engage or convert non-fans and nothing to make you shout 'best Disturbed album ever!' but it is certainly a worthwhile and entertaining entry in their discography and not one that should be overlooked. 'Never Again' on its own is almost worth the price of admission. This is the band at their most practiced, developed, and perfected. At the height of their vocal and instrumental prowess, delivering another great bunch of songs. It isn't their best and doesn't have the raw charm of their earliest works or the renewed energy of their reunion album, but is certainly not a record that deserves to be forgotten or overlooked.