Divisive

by 
AlbumNov 18 / 202210 songs, 38m
Alternative Metal
Popular

You don’t become one of the most commercially successful metal bands of all time, or a fixture of rock radio, without putting in the work; you certainly don’t stay one without evolving your band’s sound. The Chicago nu-metal outfit kick off their eighth studio LP with industrial-noise, thrash-y electronics before marching into their characteristic chugging guitars. Thematically, “Hey You” and the majority of the 10 tracks on the release are centered on modern culture—“partisan tribal warfare,” as vocalist David Draiman has put it. Frustration makes for inspiration: The release is all fist pumps and fast riffing. A few tracks nod to their 2000s alt-metal (“Bad Man,” “Love to Hate”), and the sole collaboration on the LP, “Don’t Tell Me,” has Heart’s Ann Wilson duetting with Draiman—two of rock’s more distinctive voices meeting in a glorious heavy ballad.

Everywhere you look these days, hyper tribalism has taken hold. Those in power continue to use fear and hate mongering to further empower themselves, continuing to try to turn us against one another. Pick a subject…any subject, and those who wield power will do all they can to make it a divisive issue, encouraging people to pick a side, insisting that their viewpoint is the only correct one. This record is a critique of this dangerous status quo we are living in. - Disturbed

2 / 5

Metal titans Disturbed strike out on uninspired eighth album, Divisive.

Divisive is the sixth studio album from American outfit Disturbed and follows 2018's Evolution.

8 / 10

As one of rock radio's most enduring bands, it's seemingly impossible for DISTURBED to crank an album out that doesn't feature at least a handful of chart-toppers. The Chicago-bred hard rock band's eighth full-length record, "Divisive", has already scored DISTURBED their 15th No. 1 single at rock ra...

3.3 / 5

Disturbed - Divisive review: Disturbed do what they’ve always done, this time drawing from their classic era.