Disturbed Biography

news-detailsDisturbed were formed in around 1994 under the moniker Brawl with Dan Donegan, Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, Mike Wengren and Erich Awalt. When Awalt left the band shortly after they recorded a demo, David Draiman auditioned for the vacant slot and was accepted. In 1996, they officially changed their band's name to Disturbed.

Two years later, they started recorded a new demo but didn't play it in live shows. Instead, they sent it straight to record labels in hopes to get signed. After finally sealing a deal with Giant Records, they released a debut album "The Sickness" which launched them into stardom.

The album peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Heatseekers chart and reached No. 29 on Billboard Hot 200. Their success led them to join Marylin Manson in his 2001 European tour, but bassist Fuzz had to skip the trek to recuperate from a shattered ankle caused by falling out of a fire escape outside their rehearsal hall in Chicago. Although he managed to play for the band once, Marty O'Brien was finally tapped to replace him until he recovered from the injury.

Following "Sickness", Disturbed dropped "Believe" in 2002 and scored their highest chart debut by landing at No. 2 on the U.S. albums chart. Before releasing the sophomore set, they put out a documentary DVD "M.O.L. [DVD Special Package]", which featured some of the band's more personal moments in the studio and during tours, as well as featuring several music videos and live performances.

In 2003, this band were billed as one of the musical guests in Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest Tour before finally launching their own major gig Music as a Weapon II. Right after completing the tour, they were forced to fire Kmak because of "personality differences". He was later replaced by John Moyer and the band introduced Moyer as a new member in a concert at House of Blues by performing two new songs, "Hell" and "Monster", from their third effort.

Disturbed continued their journey as one of the acclaimed rock bands by releasing another record "Ten Thousand Fists" in 2005. It matched its predecessor by ruling Hot 200 and was certified platinum less than 6 months after its release. They once again were invited to join Ozzfest alongside System of a Down, Lacuna Coil and Avenged Sevenfold and embarked on another Music as a Weapon tour.

In their next album "Indestructible", they wrote lyrical themes involving actual experiences of the band's members, including Draiman's motorcycle accident and an incident of suicide. To match the aggressive attitude and nature of said themes, they worked hard to create darker, more textural music than they had before.

They took the first spot on Hot 200 once again a week after the album arrived in stores in June 2008 and performed in more major events as a headliner. They were even featured in the famous Rock Band video game and got a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.

After years of scoring hits and rocking big event in the country and across the pond, they wanted to take a fresh direction in the band's music career by creating a fifth album "Asylum". Draiman said, "This record shows a certain degree of maturation and enhanced complexity. Asylum is still identifiably Disturbed, but the evolution is clear. It preserves the elements of what we do but at a more advanced level." It is set to come out in U.S. on August 31, 2010.