Review Summary: The sickness is rising.
For some reason, everyone and their mother clamor to slap the “nu-metal” label on Disturbed, when in fact,
The Sickness was their only nu-metal effort before moving on to a more alternative/modern metal sound. And for the most part, it cannot live down the polarizing hit single “Down With The Sickness”. Most know this song and this song only from the record, moving on to
Believe or
Ten Thousand Fists. And though
The Sickness had some weak and ultimately forgettable moments, parts of it are still worth a listen and do deserve some attention despite the apprehension the record is normally treated with.
All of the required nu-metal facets are there: detuned guitars, undercutting electronics, a little bit of rap, dark but not too dark atmosphere, mix of harsh/clean vocals, etc. Do they work? Quite well. Take raucous opener “Voices”. Despite dealing with the thoughts of a psychopathic killer, the song is an earworm with its anthemic chorus and just plain fun main riff. “Stupify” is the perfect live rager with its infectious hook and simple song structure. “The Game” and “Down With The Sickness” follow similar formulas and work quite well for what they are.
It’s when Disturbed tried to deviate from these elements that things went wrong, even though it’s a slight deviation at best. “Violence Fetish” and “Conflict” try to be heavier ragers, but both fall flat due to being painfully repetitive and easily forgettable. “Numb” tries to be a decent mid-tempo track but is mundane and snooze-worthy, while “Fear” relies too heavily on electronic elements. Not to mention the fact that the best tracks of the album are placed in the front and thus there ends up being a lot of sound-alike filler, though tenth track “Shout 2000” is a pulsating cover of the classic hit and demands the listener’s attention with the harsh vocals and pounding guitar riffs.
And sometimes the lyrics ultimately ruin songs. “Droppin Plates” has an intriguing riff in the intro and decent guitar work throughout, but David’s awkward rapping combined with his profanity fueled tough-guy lyrics make the song absolutely atrocious. The cry of “she want me” in “Want” is laughably bad and this track should’ve been left on the cutting room floor. Other than that, you can expect the typical angst and “war inside” themes. Musically, there is clearly potential in this band that would be fully fleshed out later on. Dan’s guitar riffs save parts of the album (most namely “The Game”) from being total failures, and even the bass has some nice appearances (such as in the otherwise dull “God Of The Mind”). David’s vocals obviously hadn’t fully matured yet, and his “screams” mainly fall flat, but the singing is passable and at times even talented. Drums don’t really stick out much, but this has always been par for the course.
Maybe I just like playing devil’s advocate, but I do enjoy parts of this album. It was far from the perfect first release, but it laid the groundwork for some of the key elements of Disturbed that they still use today and it got them recognized. Skip out on the filler, but if you’re looking for some decent nu-metal, this is a great place to look.
