Review by MartinDavey87 for Disturbed - Asylum (2010)

After working their way to the top of the metal world during the 2000’s, Disturbed take a step back with their fifth album, ‘Asylum’. Released in 2010, the band had been riding a wave of popularity, boosted by a number of huge hit singles and appearances in the popular Guitar Hero video games, and as such, it feels like they’ve decided to stick to their formula here and play it safe. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with a band sticking to what works for them, but it just feels like ‘Asylum’ is missing that one big knock-out punch, and all we get are a few musical jabs instead. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good album, and it does have some good songs on there, but none of them immediately jump out at me like some of the bands earlier hits. 

Musically, everything here sounds similar to what’s come before it. The same guitar sounds, David Draiman’s instantly recognizable vocals, the production, the grooves, the riffs… they’ve stuck to their sound, and some fans may appreciate that. And songs like ‘The Infection’, ‘The Animal’, ‘Warrior’, ‘Another Way to Die’, ‘Innocence’ and the title track are all decent enough that I could listen to this album if I had to. 

I’d just much rather listen to ‘Ten Thousand Fists’ or ‘Indestructible’ instead, though.