DISTURBED 'Ten Thousand Fists' (Reprise) RATING: 7/10 Buy now

By JEFF MAKI

Since they arrived in 2000 with The Sickness, Disturbed always has been lumped in the nu-metal category. With their previous release, Believe, the band tried for a more traditional metal sound, maybe to distance themselves from the dying genre. It worked on some accounts, but the album was nowhere near as good as The Sickness. Those weird vocals from David Draiman were a lot of what made Disturbed so popular in the first place, and they were missing a lot on Believe.

With Ten Thousand Fists, Disturbed continue with the more traditional metal sound but combines it with elements from their debut. After one listen, it's clear that the two mix together well. The opener and title track, “Ten Thousand Fists,” is plain awesome, with Draiman's vocals soaring through a memorable chorus. It's almost reminiscent of Judas Priest or other classic metal. "Just Stop" has an almost Megadeth-like riff and is more up tempo than the usual Disturbed. "Deify" and "Stricken" are solid tracks as well, both showing off the ultra-strong vocals, destined to have kids pumping fists at live shows. "I'm Alive" sounds almost like a newer recording from Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album, while "Sons of Plunder" and "Forgiven" sound like they could be leftovers from "The Sickness" recording sessions. A cover turns up in "Land of Confusion", and while it's not bad, it just sounds like Disturbed playing the song. Nothing new is really added to it here.

There are a few bad points throughout though. My main complaints would be that most songs sound similar and have the same tempo, making it hard to distinguish them from one another. Also, the songs all have the same formula. After track six, "I'm Alive," the album gets somewhat boring and it could have done without four of the last eight songs. Draiman's quirky vocals are great to hear again, but they are overdone by the second half of the record.

Ten Thousand Fists does have some great moments, and is a solid release for Disturbed.  It seems as if they will survive the death of nu-metal by further exploring their own sound. The album, while better than Believe, is not quite as good as The Sickness.