Review: Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists (2005)

Artist: Disturbed

Album: Ten Thousand Fists

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative/Nu Metal

Released: September 2005

Album length: 56:00/14 tracks

Background

Disturbed was formed in Chicago in 1994. Three of the founding members were in another band at the time, and auditioned for a vocalist. This is where they found David Draiman, and they became Disturbed after a name change. Disturbed deal with heavy topics in their music with everything from war to miscarriage. Ten Thousand Fists is the band's third album, and is the first to feature John Moyer as bassist.

The track breakdown

On repeat: Decadence, Forgiven, Pain Redefined

Skip it: Deify, Sacred Lie, Avarice

For the gym: Ten Thousand Fists, Guarded, Stricken, Decadence, Forgiven

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Ten Thousand Fists is an amazing start to the album! It's a true anthemic song, with awesome riffs, powerful vocals and lyrics. It's perfect for a gym playlist.

Just Stop is a solid track and was one of my early favourites. Draiman adds a growly verse in contrast with mellower vocals, which is really cool.

Guarded is a well-constructed song. Riffs alongside fantastic drumming and Draiman's powerful vocals make this song stand out. The lyrics are heavy (as is to be expected from Disturbed) - All for nothing you were sacrificed. You began alone, and so it will be when you die. All for nothing, will you be remembered? You were warned.

Deify isn't a favourite of mine, mainly because starts off with an audio clip on George Bush. Whilst they're making a valid political point, I've never appreciated non-musical stuff being interjected in songs. Disturbed do this fairly often, which ruins tracks for me. Aside from the intro, it's a good song, with awesome drumming from Mike Wengren throughout.

Stricken is a damn good song. One of their most famous tracks, it's a real delight to listen to. Draiman's vocals on this are amazing - some parts you can feel the anger, other parts you can feel the pain. Not to mention the expected "ah ah ah ow" sounds that are included. This is the first Disturbed song to truly show off guitarist Dan Donegan's skill with a stunning, emotional solo. The drumming and bass are awesome on this track too. A fantastic all-rounder, albeit a little overplayed.

I'm Alive was the first Disturbed song I ever really got into and fell in love with. Draiman's melodic vocals in the verses, the passionate chorus about being yourself, and lyrics about solidarity against a backdrop of awesome drumming and a cheeky little solo all come together to create a brilliant song.

Sons of Plunder is a banger. Powerful lyrics from the off, incredible drumming. The music dips and Draiman's delightful softer vocals come in and the passion breaks into growling. Fantastic track, and another one for the gym playlist.

Overburdened is beautiful. It's a really heavy topic, about soldiers going to hell. It's an great take on the concept of hell and war from Disturbed; they are "staunchly pro-military", but anti-war. The way this theme is delivered with this track is incredible.

The song starts softly before metal slams in, then Draiman's stunning dulcet vocals. The chorus is powerful and the last verse is amazing. There's a great solo too. The whole song is hard-hitting with lyrics that are hard to listen to, especially with those emotional vocals.

It's the closing of the curtain, in the play that was my life

Countless chapters left unopened, tragedies inside

I was fighting for a reason, holy blessed homicide

Seems I have committed treason, all I've sacrificed led to nothing

Decadence is introduced with some impressive drumming from Wengren, which continues throughout. The shouty, heavy verses against the melodic chorus are a really nice contrast. The thought-provoking lyrics are classic Disturbed. A solid track and one of my favourites.

Forgiven is probably my second favourite on this album. I like it because it feels so angry and I love the lyrics. It's repetitive, but in a way where it's slowly being built up to a peak. Draiman's vocals become softer at one point in the song, just before a seriously snazzy solo, which adds an extra level to the track. There's great drumming on this track too. It's so well put together.

Land of Confusion is a cover of the famous Genesis song. The way they made this song into peak metal is really awesome. It's not too dissimilar to Disturbed's usual themes, so I can see why they chose to cover it. I love the solo in this song. It's a great cover. However, if you don't like covers, then you might want to skip it, but I feel like they definitely made it their own.

Sacred Lie is a song I tend to skip. It's an intense track and I find the chorus and parts of the verses to be a bit whiny. It's not out of place on the album though.

Pain Redefined is one of my favourite Disturbed tracks of all time. There's something special about this track. The lyrics, riffs and the way the music perfectly fits the cadence of Draiman's very specific singing style on this album are part of it. There's also this beautiful bassy descent into a soft verse. My only complaint is the lack of solo, but it's not that obviously missing from the track.

Avarice is another skip from me. Reminds me a lot of Sacred Lie. Again, not a terrible track and fits the album, it's just a bit dull and not one I'd choose to listen to outside of Ten Thousand Fists. The lyrics and solo are good. As it's the last track on the album and 14 tracks in, I want it to be either as good as Pain Redefined or wrapped up!

In summary

I admit I'm heavily biased when it comes to this album. I've proclaimed it as my favourite Disturbed album for about 7 years, and it hasn't been knocked off that pedestal as all recent releases have been disappointing on the whole.

Ten Thousand Fists is an album I'll happily listen the whole way through. I like the way it's cohesive, although there are different themes and styles over the course of the album. As usual from Disturbed, this is an album with both inspirational and heavy lyrics; they never shy away from tricky, controversial topics.

Musically, it's not as heavy as their later releases, with some songs having more of a hard rock feel to them, rather than the heavy metal sound of tracks such as Inside the Fire and Asylum.

I like the way Donegan finally gets to play with the guitar a bit more with the solos, but Indestructible and Asylum are much better on that front as they're a lot heavier. If you enjoy the softer vocals found on Overburdened, you'd enjoy Believe; that album is full of stunning, melodic vocals from Draiman.

Wengren's drumming is awesome on this album, and I love the way Moyer's bass peeks through. As always, Draiman's vocals are impressive, adding extra power to already powerful lyrics.

I recommend you give Forgiven and Overburdened a listen, just to see the huge difference in style that Disturbed are really talented at creating.

In summary, Ten Thousand Fists is an awesome album!

Album rating: 9/10