THE ANNOUNCEMENT
David Draiman says Disturbed’s new album is done and he’s in love with it — but you’re going to wait a while longer *. The frontman stepped away from the finished tracks, came back, and now calls them “diverse, fresh, and powerful,” which is exactly what you’d hope for after *Divisive* debuted at number 13 and sold 26,000 copies first week *. No release date, no timeline, just Draiman promising fans will be “pleasantly surprised” *.
THE DETAILS
- Disturbed recorded a full album’s worth of material in Los Angeles across September, October, and November 2024 with producer Drew Fulk *
- Guitarist Dan Donegan pulled a riff from a 1998 demo and worked it into the new songs, aiming to trigger “that old-school delivery” from Draiman *
- The band released standalone single “I Will Not Break” in February 2025 during their 25th anniversary tour of *The Sickness* *
- “I Will Not Break” marked their first release on their own label, Mother Culture Records, after a career-long run with Warner Brothers *
- The working title for “I Will Not Break” was “Cakebread” after the wine drummer Mike Wengren Doordashed to the studio — the riff came out five minutes after pouring glasses *
WHY IT MATTERS
SKIP IT — for now. An album recorded in fall 2024 with no release date attached 18 months later and a frontman saying “it’ll be some time” is not news, it’s limbo *. The real story here is Donegan digging into 1998 demos to chase the band’s old sound, which suggests even Disturbed knows *Divisive* didn’t hit the way their five number one albums did *.