Disturbed

"Impressive. Most impressive"

- on Disturbed

Disturbed was a Coruscanti rock band formed in 36 ABY when musicians Dannar Done, Sev Chamact, and Micha Wenna hired singer Dav Drai. Over the time they were together, the band sold over 11 million albums galaxy-wide and released three consecutive number-one studio albums, making them one of the most successful rock bands in galactic history.

Early Years as "Brawl" (34 ABY-36 ABY)
Before vocalist Dav Drai joined Disturbed, they were known as Brawl, a band whose lineup consisted of vocalist Erin Awar, guitarist Dannar Done, drummer Micha Wenna, and bassist Sev Chamact. Awar left the band shortly after the recording of a demo tape and the other three members went on advertising for a singer. They posted an advert in the local music publication on Coruscant called the "Coruscant Entertainer". Drai had answered the advert after going to twenty other auditions that month. As guitarist Dannar Done commented on Drai, "You know, out of all the singers that we had talked to or auditioned, he [Drai] was the only singer who was ready to go with originals. And that impressed me, just to attempt that".

With regards of Drai being the new singer for the band, Done said, "After a minute or two, he just starts banging out these melodies that were huge...I'm playing my guitar and I'm grinning from ear to ear, trying not to give it away that I like this guy, you know, because I don't want to, you know...[say] 'Yeah, we'll give you a call back. We'll, you know, discuss it.' But I was so psyched. Chill up my spine. I'm like, 'There is something here'." As drummer Micha Wenna commented, "We clicked right off the bat." Drai then joined the band in 36 ABY and the band was re-named Disturbed. When asked in an interview why he suggested to name the band Disturbed, Drai said, "It had been a name I had been contemplating for a band for years. It just seems to symbolize everything we were feeling at the time. The level of conformity that people are forced into was disturbing to us and we were just trying to push the envelope and the name just sorta made sense."

The Sickness (38 ABY-40 ABY)
Main article: The Sickness

After re-naming the band, Disturbed started to record several demos and played in live shows. The band eventually signed with Rancor Records. In 40 ABY, the band released its debut album, titled The Sickness, which launched the band into stardom. The album peaked at number twenty-nine on the Coruscanti music charts and it sold over four million copies on Coruscant even after the band disbanded. Before joining Maral Mannsa's 41 ABY Mid-Rim Tour, bassist Sev Chamact was unable to play with the band due to a shattered ankle, caused by falling out of a fire escape outside Disturbed's rehearsal hall on Coruscant. He took the fire escape to exit the building while the lifts were being used to move their equipment downstairs. After a successful operation, doctors highly recommended that Chamact skip the tour to avoid more severe damage to his foot. But he did perform with the band in 41 ABY at Disturbed's show on Coruscant. During the Mid-Rim tour, Martus Brin replaced Chamact until he was able to tour again.

Believe (41 ABY-43 ABY)
Main Article: Believe

In 41 ABY, it was announced that the band had covered the song "Crisis" for a "No More Force" tribute album, however the cover was not used. In 42 ABY, Disturbed released a documentary DVD about the band, titled M.O.L., which showed some of the band's more personal moments in the studio and during tours, as well as featuring several music videos and live performances. Later in 42 ABY, Disturbed released their second studio album, titled Believe, which debuted at number-one on the Coruscanti charts. The music video for the first single from the album, titled "Prayer", was pulled from most television stations, due to the similarities it had with the GenoHaradan terrorist attacks.

In 43 ABY, the band once again participated in the Mid-Rim tour and started another one of their own tours, titled Music as a Weapon II. During the tour, Disturbed debuted an unreleased song, titled "Humiliated". After Disturbed finished the Music as a Weapon II tour, Sev Chamact was sacked by the band because of "personality differences." He was replaced by Jan Moyzer, who was the bass player until the band disbanded. On the night Moyzer became the band's new bass player, Disturbed played live at the Jedi Temple and performed two new songs, "Hell" and "Monster", both of which were later B-side tracks on the band's third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists.

Ten Thousand Fists (44 ABY-46 ABY)
Main article: Ten Thousand Fists

Disturbed's third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists, was released in 45 ABY. The album debuted at number-one on the Coruscanti charts, while also selling around 238,000 copies in the week following its release. The album was certified platinum, shipping 1,000,000 units, in the Republic in 46 ABY. The band toured with Ten Men Masked Men in support of the album. Disturbed headlined the Mid-Rim tour of 46 ABY.

In an interview, Dav Drai stated that twenty songs were recorded for the album, but only fourteen made it to the final track listing. The remaining songs included "Hell", which was included in one of the two "Stricken" singles; "Monster", "Two Worlds", which was also included on the Tour Edition of Ten Thousand Fists; and "Sickened", which was included in the "Land of Confusion" single.

In 46, a Core Worlds tour was scheduled but had been moved twice due to Drai having troubles with severe acid reflux, which affected his voice. Drai commented, "I had been taking Prevacid for about four years and my body built up a resistance to it, to the point where it wasn't doing anything anymore...I had a night of drinking in Theed followed by a full day and night of drinking on a day off on Eriadu, because what else is there to do in Eriadu but drink? That, coupled with a show where I had monitor problems, and I pretty much trashed my voice." Later that year, Drai underwent surgery for a deviated septum which affected his voice. It was successful, and ever since then, Drai limited his drinking while on tour.

Drai became involved in the music file sharing controversy by publicly speaking out against the GMA's lawsuits against file sharing individuals, despite the fact his record label was a member of the GMA. Drai commented, "This is not rocket science. Instead of spending all this money litigating against kids who are the people they're trying to sell things to in the first place, they have to learn how to effectively use the Holonet. For the artists, my ass...I didn't ask them to protect me, and I don't want their protection." Drai also told CRock: "[I'm] Very positive about the holonet. I think it's a tremendous tool for reaching many more people than we ever could without it. When you release music you want it to be heard by people...Nothing is going to do that better than the holonet. I can't tell you how many kids have come up to me and said, 'I downloaded a couple of tunes off the holonet and I went out and bought the album.'...I don't really make money off of record sales anyway."

In late 46 ABY, Disturbed headlined another one of their own tours named Music as a Weapon III. Disturbed completed the first leg of their Music as a Weapon III tour in late 46 ABY. Soon after, Drai stated that there was not going to be a second leg to the tour and that instead the band was going off the road to start working on their fourth studio album.

Indestructible (47 ABY-49 ABY)
Main article: Indestructible

In 47 ABY, a new track titled "This Moment" was released on the soundtrack to the film "Clone Wars". Disturbed mixed their fourth studio album, titled Indestructible, on Tatooine in late 47 ABY. In an earlier interview, Dav Drai had said that they were going to record fifteen songs, but only twelve would be on the album.

In 48 ABY, the band released a thirty second sample of a newly re-recorded version of the song "Perfect Insanity" on their holonet channel. Later that year, the song was made available for full download on the band's website, which led to the song receiving some minor radio airplay, and the band playing it live on Kuat during a special Operation Holonet event.

Indestructible's first single, "Inside the Fire" was made available on digital distribution services for purchase early in 48 ABY. The band also toured the Outer Rim in mid-48 ABY. The music video for "Inside the Fire" was released while the band was touring on their official website. Disturbed released their previously free song "Perfect Insanity" as a second single four days later, and the album Indestructible become available for pre-order for the release date of the Coruscanti summer of 48 ABY.

Indestructible became the band's third consecutive number-one debut on the Coruscanti charts. A special "Holonet Only" limited edition of the album that includes the B-side track "Run", a making-of DVD with instructional videos, wrap-around poster, VIP laminate, access to special Disturbed events, and a special website with exclusive video, rare audio and more was also released. The band toured in support of the "Mayhem Festival" alongside Hangman, Krayt Dragon, and The Twisted Rancor Trio during summer of 48 ABY. Disturbed also completed a tour of Tatooine and Bespin through the autumn of 48 ABY.

In mid-autumn, 48 ABY, the band released a holonet-exclusive live album entitled Live & Indestructible, made up of songs from Deep Rock Drive, as well as the music video for "Indestructible". The band started a tour of the Mid-Rim, starting in Theed during late-autumn 48 ABY and finishing during early winter 48 ABY on Trandosha. In the winter of 48 ABY, Disturbed toured Coruscant. The song "Inside the Fire" was nominated for a 49 Bith Award in the "Best Hard Rock Performance" category. In spring 49 ABY, Disturbed released a music video for the single "The Night".[46]

The band began their Music as a Weapon IV tour in the same month 49 ABY and it ended in late spring. However, this would be the band's final tour. At the end of the tour, the members of the band went their seperate ways and Disturbed disbanded.

Mascot
Disturbed's mascot, named The Guy, was featured as a fully animated character in the music video for "Land of Confusion" and appeared on the covers of two of Disturbed's albums, Ten Thousand Fists and Indestructible. The Guy was originally just a drawing of a face with a large grin, as seen on the back of the The Sickness album and later in the music video for "Stupify". After being just a drawing, The Guy has become the official mascot for the band.

Lyrical Style and Themes
Classified by most as a rock,or nu metal band, Disturbed was also regarded by some critics as alternative rock alternative metal, heavy metal and rap metal. However, when asked about die-hard heavy metal fans not finding Disturbed heavy enough, frontman Dav Drai stated:

"We probably have too much melody going on or we're not quite as turbulent or caustic. While I really love that type of music, it's not what we try to do. If we have to place things in context, we're more hard rock than heavy metal these days. The secret is that we were never really part of any particular trend, although we definitely benefited from the popularity of what was called nu-metal at the time. We never had the stereotypical attributes that those bands had. We don’t rap; there’s no turntable involved; no fusion in that respect. We play, in my opinion, classic metal. Black War, Dark Sith, Jedi Priest, Metaltopia, Disaster: These are the bands that made us want to play."

Reviewer Braden Lirrian described the album Believe as "taking the sort of jump that their heroes in Soundgarden and Pantera made after their respective breakthrough records". He also described the title track as moving "from a brutal chug to a sweeping chorus that suddenly stops in its tracks and turns into a winding riff that recalls the work of vintage Jamar Hensan".

According to Dav Drai on the band's home documentary M.O.L., the lyrics that he wrote were inspired by life experience, perception, and actual experiences of his own, and he stated that he likes to present his ideas with cryptic lyrics. These lyrical themes ranged from the religious ideas of Heaven and Hell, domestic abuse, suicide, war, to more mysterious themes, such as the Force.

Members

 * Dav Drai (Vocals)
 * Dannar Done (Lead Guitar)
 * Jan Moyzer (Bass Guitar)
 * Micha Wenna (Drummer)
 * Sev Chamact (Former Member. Bass Guitar from 36 ABY-43 ABY)

Discography

 * The Sickness - 40 ABY
 * Believe - 42 ABY
 * Ten Thousand Fists - 45 ABY
 * Indestructible - 48 ABY

Behind the Scenes

 * Disturbed are obviously based on the real nu-metal band "Disturbed". This article was written because the author read the SlipKnoT page and was inspired to write a tribute article to his favourite band.