Review by MartinDavey87 for Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists (2005)
Disturbed’s third studio album, 2005’s ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, sees the band finally hit their stride, adapting a more contemporary sound while somewhat maintaining their groove-based nu metal style. With that particular subgenre of music being dead and buried, this was a pivotal album for the band to show that they could hold their own outside of that scene, with an album that would appeal to fans of metal old and new alike.
Having focused on the highlights of their previous releases, catchy choruses in particular, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ has an abundance of hooks that makes every track memorable, and with its monstrous production and simple song structures, Disturbed’s music sounds a lot more accessible and mainstream.
Guitarist Dan Donegan’s guitar playing is brilliant here. With skull-crushing precision, his riffs are heavy, yet groovy, and fit perfectly with David Draiman’s melodic vocals. In fact, Donegan lets rip in a couple of tracks with some very slick guitar solos, showing that he had the chops all along, but either left them out to further conform to nu metal trends, or simply that there was no need for them. Either way, he’s finally cutting loose, and it sounds great!
Highlights include the thunderous hit single ‘Stricken’, the huge and epic-sounding ‘Overburdened, and a cracking cover of the Genesis classic, ‘Land of Confusion’, as well as ‘Just Stop’, ‘Guarded’, ‘Sacred Lie’, and ‘Pain Redefined’. And then of course, the title track itself, which is an absolute anthem that will literally produce a sea of raised fists for a metal call-to-arms. The musicianship on these tracks is fantastic, with exceptional performances from everyone involved.
Overall, while ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ isn’t quite a masterpiece, it’s a solid album that definitely helped Disturbed shake off any nu metal remnants, and established them as a legit heavy metal act. It holds up well today, and marks the band as one of the more important acts to burst onto the scene at the turn of the century.