Five years ago, the guys in Disturbed were set to take their fans on a time trip back to the metal band’s beginnings. A deluxe version of the group’s debut album, “The Sickness” was finished and dates were booked for an extensive tour on which Disturbed would make the songs from that album the centerpiece of each show.
So it was a big disappointment when COVID came along, scuttling the tour and cutting short the celebration for “The Sickness.”
“We were cheated out on the 20th anniversary by COVID,” guitarist Dan Donegan said of the band, which will play Gas South Arena in Duluth on April 23.
Credit: Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP
Credit: Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP
The shutdown came at an inopportune time for Disturbed in another way, as well. In 2015, the band’s career had taken a decidedly unexpected turn with the release of a cover out of left field: a slow-paced, darkly hued rendition of the Simon & Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence.” The song caught fire, going No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hard Rock and Mainstream Rock singles charts and became the band’s highest charting song on Billboard’s all-genre Top 100 singles chart. In all, it racked up more than 1.5 million digital downloads and was streamed more than 50 million times.
That song set the stage for Donegan and his bandmates — singer David Draiman, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren — to delve further into a more textured side of their music on the 2018 album, “Evolution.” It was split between songs that fit the kind of edgy and aggressive songs that had made Disturbed one of the most popular heavy metal/hard rock bands of the new millennium and other songs that built on the acoustic-centric approach of “The Sound of Silence.”
Then COVID happened, “The Sickness” tour had to be canceled and the band’s momentum was interrupted for two years.
When the shutdown ended and concert venues started to reopen, Donegan and his bandmates had moved on and made a new studio album, “Divisive.” Released in fall 2022, it marked a stylistic 180 for the band, with a return to its aggressive full-on electric sound.
In fact, many felt the album recalled the sound Disturbed crafted on “The Sickness.” Whether intentional or not, “Divisive” provided a good segue for Disturbed to revisit the plans for “The Sickness” — and turn what is now the 25th anniversary of the debut album into an even bigger celebration.
On March 7, the band released a three-CD deluxe edition of “The Sickness.” It includes the two studio outtakes that were included on the 20th anniversary reissue, plus a 16-song 2001 concert and additional demos. Now Disturbed has started the tour that had been planned for the 20th anniversary. In addition to playing “The Sickness,” the band will do a second set of hit songs. The 25th anniversary tour will also feature new visual production.
Donegan is relishing this time trip back to the early years of Disturbed, recalling plenty of memories from the band’s early days, the making of “The Sickness” and touring as the album became a major hit that sold some 5 million copies. The guitarist, who is the band’s main music writer (Draiman writes most of the lyrics), was the key figure in getting Disturbed off the ground.
While playing in various bands in Chicago, Donegan set his sights on identifying musicians with the talent, work ethic and determination to take a band to a worldwide stage. By 1996, he had found the right musicians in Draiman, Wengren and bassist Steve “Fuzz” Kmak (who was replaced by Moyer in 2003).
Over the next couple of years, the band continued writing songs and eventually scraped together enough money to record demos of seven songs that were drawing crowds to Disturbed’s club shows around Chicago.
By 1999, Disturbed had a major label deal with Giant Records. “The Sickness” was released the next year. Then came touring — 22 months, with few breaks. The band would go on to release four more albums, each topping the Billboard album chart before taking a hiatus that spanned 2011 to 2015. Then came the album “Immortalized,” followed by “The Sound of Silence” single.
When he looks back, Donegan feels good about the work that preceded and followed the release of “The Sickness.”
“There are just so many great memories and some of my favorite times,” he said. “Sometimes we wouldn’t have hotel rooms. We wouldn’t even shower for days or sometimes we were eating on a low budget — I think our first tour, each guy got like $5 (per diem) a day. It was like ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches or something. It was great, though, because we look back and we see that journey and all the hard work that we put into it.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
Disturbed
6:30 p.m. April 23 at Gas South Arena. Tickets start at $35.50. 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. ticketmaster.com.
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