Band:	Disturbed
Album:	Evolution
Style:	Alternative metal, Nu metal
Release date:	October 2018

01. Are You Ready
02. No More
03. A Reason To Fight
04. In Another Time
05. Stronger On Your Own
06. Hold On To Memories
07. Savior Of Nothing
08. Watch You Burn
09. The Best Ones Lie
10. Already Gone
11. The Sound Of Silence [feat. Myles Kennedy] [live] [deluxe edition bonus]
12. This Venom [deluxe edition bonus]
13. Are You Ready [Sam de Jong remix] [deluxe edition bonus]
14. Uninvited Guest [deluxe edition bonus]

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain".

When nu metal had swamped the mainstream, there were many who saw this ascendance as a permanent sea change, overthrowing the old and breathing fresh air into the scene; gone were the days of middling radio rock and in were angsty teen anthems, chief among them those from Disturbed. Fast forward a decade and a half, and Disturbed have become what many had assumed they were intent on destroying; where once the band were Anakin Skywalker, they emerge as Darth Vader. Ironically Draiman sums it up himself on "Saviour Of Nothing", saying "You've become everything you claim to fight".

Evolution is an awkwardly named record; sure, it does see the band move forward and change, but they leave themselves wide open to the fact that not all evolutions are successful, and some may serve as the precursor to the death of a species. Where the band once dwelled in the dark side of the human psyche and hit hard with heavy and chunky riffs, now they reside on bland and inoffensive topics, pushing the guitars to the back and upping the more electronic elements. This in and of itself isn't an automatic failure, but when you couple it with very middle-of-the-road tracks, then you have a recipe for failure. Take opener "Are You Ready" as an example; it's not a bad track, but I wouldn't call it a good track either - where the band used to elicit strong emotions, Evolution dulls the two extremes of joy and hate and instead only inspires a shoulder shrug.

While this shift had begun on their comeback record Immortalized, it is in full and total effect here; while some songs allude to and seem written in a similar vein as the band's prior work, they are done while whittling down much of the power and sanding down the edges. Case in point are tracks like "In Another Time" and "Saviour Of Nothing", which are built with similar blueprints but are toned way down so as to become inoffensive and easily digestible. Both feature guitar work that holds back and in an irritating way; rather than try something new, the band just take a few steps back from what they used to be, which means you can hear what you could have had to rub salt in the wound.

"The Best Ones Lie" sums up the biggest problem with the record, however; it takes until the penultimate track for the band to offer something that sounds familiar to their older work, but even then it isn't that good of a track. It has a heavy guitar, but apart from the riff at the beginning it is rarely utilized, with the solo being swamped out by some awful electronic effects. Where the band offer an olive branch, it is one that is covered in thorns; as is the running theme on this record, it isn't awful but it isn't great either.

The album is clear and audible, though at the expense of being sterile and soulless; it balances the volume well and everything is well placed in the mix, but it doesn't endear itself to me in any way. Draiman's voice still has the power of the past and he continues to showcase the range he can offer like he did on "The Sound Of Silence", with "Already Gone" being much in a similar vein. The rest of the band are there and support Draiman well, though that in itself is telling; where before they had character and moments of their own to stand in the light, on Evolution there really isn't much to give them personality and they're reduced to mere supporting characters.

For a standard radio rock band, Evolution is a mediocre album, nothing that will make you turn away but then again it's nothing that will grab you by the collar and draw you closer and want to turn up the volume dial. For a Disturbed record it is a let down, the band have done much better than this before and it seems as if the band are content to step into line rather than step out of line and flip everyone the bird. I'd give it a listen but I wouldn't expect much out of it.