Believe

The Windy City alt-metal provocateurs Disturbed surprised everyone when their debut, The Sickness, sold over 2 million copies. Here, once again, the band's imperious chrome-domed vocalist David Draiman bleats out the band's messages of nonconformity, self-empowerment, and individuality with a passion and ferocity that hasn't been heard since the '60s--though there's little room for peace, love, and understanding in Disturbed's world. Instead, Draiman laces the band's message with equal parts rage, disgust, and menace, all delivered in a thundering voice that alternates from the lyrical to the grizzled. Ozzy Osbourne has called Disturbed the "future of metal," and he might be right; they have almost single-handedly plucked the genre out of the aggro dung heap and fueled it with intelligence. The band is just as aggressive here as on their debut, but they've lost some of their dark angst, and as a result have created a melodic, psychically lighter album, despite the fact that the CD kicks off with "Prayer," a conversation between Draiman and God, inspired by the singer's grandfather's death. --Jaan Uhelszki  more