Device - Device
Warner Bros. Records
Industrial/Rock/Metal
10 songs (40'20'')
Release year: 2013
Warner Bros. Records
Reviewed by Jared

For the last two years, Disturbed fans have been left to wonder when the band will decide to resurface again with another album. It can be a little unsettling since the bands rather lengthy recession from the scene after their US tour in 2011. However this year brings somewhat a sigh of a relief as the front man David Draiman has been busy with his first solo project in collaboration with former guitarist Geno Lenardo of Fliter. The musical direction for this album is set to be industrial feeling with an emphasis on an electronic sound. This album may shed a little relief on some Disturbed fans while they wait for any upcoming projects, but it’s hard telling when that time will come. For now, fans must settle for Device.

It will be a bit easier for many Disturbed fans to relate to this album better than I had found myself after coming to listen to 40 minutes of the industrial rock sound. You Think You Know start the album off with a pretty good feeling, including a catchy and likeable chorus from Draiman, but also sounding much more industrial than I was expecting the track to be. The first two tracks begin the album very nicely, which brings me to my favorite of the album, Penance. The echoing chorus here is much more heightened than its previous track, making it both memorable worth revisiting over and over. The heavy sound of both the drums and guitars are also done quite well to help make the song shine bright. The track Vilify follows with a big industrious sound with a good electronic vibe with a more aggressive clean singing from Draiman.

One cover song does come up on this album which is Close My Eyes Forever written by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne in 1988. It’s a pretty well done track, but still difficult to top the original. The biggest industrial sized riff does follow this track with the song Out of Line and a great appearance from the much loved singer Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Also the bassist Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath does show up to lay on his bass mastering skills. After this point of the album unfortunately, my interests began to drop rapidly.

The album began to feel extremely poppy once the second half began to blast through my speakers. Immediately, Hunted began a less mammoth industrial sound like its preceding songs. Both Hunted and Opinion felt as though it led to an obvious more rock feel. Opinion contained a guest appearance from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, but didn’t really help me to like the song any better due to his presence on it. Needless to say on a later track, Haze, Matthew Sanders of Avengend Sevenfold does make a rather unneeded addition to this album. I’ve never used Avenged Sevenfold in my speech unless expressing something always negative, and having had the opportunity to make it this far into the album, a guest appearance from this man only made my experience with the second half of the album all the more disappointing. Like most of these tracks that make up this half, its pop metal sound and uninteresting choruses and riffs could have been something so much more.

Device’s first album isn’t a record to immediately dismiss. I found both positive and negative features alike, but when it comes down to it, most hardcore Disturbed fans will be happy to see David Draiman emerging from his quite status after two years. Even though I am not much of a Disturbed fan, I hope this album only will play as a warm up for Draiman and his return with Disturbed in the coming years.

Killing Songs :
You Think You Know, Penance, Out of Line
Jared quoted 60 / 100
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There are 4 replies to this review. Last one on Tue Sep 10, 2013 9:35 pm
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