DAVID DRAIMAN Says DISTURBED Followers Will Be ‘Pleasantly Shocked’ By Band’s New Songs: They Are ‘Various, Recent And Highly effective’

David Draiman says that DISTURBED followers shall be “pleasantly stunned” by the fabric he and his bandmates have written for DISTURBED‘s follow-up to 2022’s “Divisive” album.

On Saturday (Might 30),the DISTURBED frontman took to his account on X (previously Twitter) to put in writing: “I am going to inform you one factor… I’ve had lots of time to go over these final songs we have written. Took time away, got here again to them, and fell in love with them over again. Various, recent, and highly effective.

“It will be a while…however I can not look ahead to these songs to see the sunshine of day,” Draiman added. “I believe everybody shall be pleasantly…stunned.”

Again in April 2025, DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan instructed Rock 100.5 The KATT FM‘s Cameron Buchholtz that he and his bandmates had recorded “a bunch of fabric” within the fall of 2024, “sufficient for an album, and it is nice and we find it irresistible and we’re enthusiastic about it. However we thought at the very least with this [early 2025] tour [celebrating 25 years of DISTURBED‘s debut album, 2000’s ‘The Sickness’] we’ll put out ‘I Will Not Break’ as a [new standalone] single simply to offer followers one thing new together with this anniversary tour, however not fairly announce a launch date of the entire album. ‘Trigger we’re nonetheless making an attempt to strategize once we’re gonna tour… We might drop one other single in some unspecified time in the future, and perhaps we’ll have a launch date for the entire album by that time.”

Concerning the truth that “I Will Not Break” marked DISTURBED‘s first launch through the band’s personal label, Mom Tradition Information, Dan mentioned: “We have been with Warner Brothers our entire profession, and that is, yeah, the primary time us doing it on our personal. We had an incredible relationship with them. They at all times labored exhausting for the band. [We’re] very grateful for the connection we had. And it most likely helped that we have been profitable early on the primary album, that they at all times stayed out of our means. So we have been in a position to do what we needed to do, and so they’d say, ‘Hey, it is working. We’re not gonna intervene.’ And that is at all times an incredible relationship when an artist may do what they need. So it was an incredible run with them, however we weren’t obligated to remain. We’ve got an incredible relationship with our administration firm, with Q Prime, and so they have the infrastructure too. In order that they have their radio division and their advertising and marketing and their social media and all people. And so they’ve been wonderful with us as effectively. And I believe our relationship with radio and the followers through the years, simply because the band, all of the relationships we have constructed, we have had lots of assist. You guys, all people have at all times been there for us. So if we maintain delivering the songs and also you guys maintain enjoying it, it is a good partnership for us.”

Dan spoke in regards to the the musical inspiration for “I Will Not Break”, which got here out in February 2025, throughout an look on an episode of The Mistress Carrie Podcast. He mentioned: “We have been out in L.A. [in the] fall [of 2024] and simply began getting the concepts out. And we had an album’s value of fabric already executed. And me and [DISTURBED drummer] Mike [Wengren] and Drew [Fulk, also known as WZRD BLD], our producer, have been sitting within the room. And I wish to maintain going. As soon as the ball’s rolling, I do not wish to give up — I do not wish to cease, as a result of I at all times really feel like the joy’s there. You have acquired one thing new so I maintain writing. And David‘s making an attempt to play catch-up, as a result of he is gotta write all these lyrics to those songs. So lots of occasions he needs us to cease as a result of ‘trigger we’re getting too far forward of him. And someday I used to be within the studio, and I used to be already digging again into previous demos that I had at residence, previous cassette tapes that we had within the ’90s, as we’re going by the vault of issues… So I needed to return and simply form of get again in that headspace of… A few of these recordings have been really simply hitting the ‘file’ button and placing somewhat cassette participant at the back of the room, so it is the worst high quality ever. However I needed to listen to a few of these improvised tapes and get in that headspace of the place we have been again then. And despite the fact that ‘I Will Not Break’ is a model new riff, it form of simply had that vibe.”

Donegan continued: “I used to be presupposed to be monitoring guitars within the studio for one thing else that day and I am, like, ‘Ah, let’s simply put that on the again burner. I simply really feel like doing one thing new.’ And we simply begin messing round a bit and I am simply enjoying round with this riff for some time. I modified the riff most likely 50 occasions as we have been sitting there, and I believe when the riff lastly happened, I believe me, Mike and Drew simply checked out one another and have been, like, ‘That is it. That is the one. Go along with that.'”

Dan added: “Cakebread is without doubt one of the wines we’ve got backstage right here [on tour]. And we have been having that within the studio that evening. We opened up a bottle of wine and began improvising. So the working title for the tune was referred to as ‘Cakebread’.”

Mike additionally mirrored on the making of “I Will Not Break”, saying: “[Dan‘s] riffing out, and we’ll loop some beats for him and he simply sits there. And he can riff for hours typically. Typically one thing comes out in 5 minutes. Typically it comes out in 5 hours. It had been going round. I am, like, ‘ what?’ I am sitting at the back of the room. I Doordash some wine. The perfect that the shop had on Doordash was Cakebread. So the man exhibits up. I crack open the wine. Inside 5 minutes of pouring the glasses for everyone, that riff for ‘I Will Not Break’ got here out.”

Donegan beforehand talked about “I Will Not Break” in a February 2025 interview with Ryan McCredden of the I-Rock 93.5 radio station. Dan mentioned on the time: “[That song] got here late within the recording course of. We have been out in L.A. this previous September, October and November, simply getting the ball rolling. There was no actually gameplan of a timeframe or deadline in any means. We had a while off the highway with solely a handful of exhibits final fall, so we mentioned, ‘Let’s get again within the room and get issues going once more and see how the artistic course of goes.’ And every part was going nice. We wrote a bunch of fabric, tracked all of it, after which ‘I Will Not Break’ form of got here late within the session. I simply felt like I nonetheless had so much left in me. And I used to be presupposed to be monitoring guitars for one thing else that day, and I simply instructed my producer I felt actually artistic. I needed to form of go together with this sort of old-school — I needed to offer one thing to David that was gonna hopefully set off form of that old-school supply out of David. So we simply form of labored on this heavy groove, this beat, and I simply began improvising over it, and as quickly because the riff got here round, we form of all simply checked out one another, like, ‘That is the one. That is the one.’ After which I simply continued down that highway and put collectively a tough construction. David wasn’t there in the mean time, on the time, so we simply form of labored out the music and put collectively a tough construction. And once I’d seen him subsequent, I form of went over it with him and he linked with it. And he form of gave us these components that we have been on the lookout for — the nonetheless melodic, however nonetheless fast, rapid-fire syncopation at occasions and simply that form of supply we have been hoping to drag out of him. And we thought it might be an incredible lead-off observe to share with the followers.”

When McCredden famous that “I Will Not Break” appears like one thing DISTURBED may have recorded 25 years in the past, presumably impressed by the truth that the band was getting ready to embark on a 34-date North American tour celebrating the Twenty fifth anniversary of “The Illness”, Donegan concurred. “I used to be going by the archives and going by lots of stuff right here, my memorabilia, gearing up for this Twenty fifth-anniversary tour, and I got here throughout some previous demo tapes,” he mentioned. “I had really cassette tapes, if individuals do not keep in mind what these are. Again within the day, within the late ’90s, once we acquired David within the band, we’d simply arrange somewhat cassette participant at the back of the room and hit ‘file’ and file us — crappy model, however file our practices so we may hear us simply improvising concepts. And so I used to be form of in that headspace ‘trigger I used to be listening to those previous riffs and these previous deliveries of us simply form of improvising, like I mentioned, and it simply had me in that headspace. Truly, one of many tune concepts was a riff I pulled from 1998 off the demo and I form of slid it again into the combo. I’ve a historical past of doing that. I’ve a means of sneaking in previous concepts and seeing if it triggers anyone, in the event that they keep in mind it and decide up on it, if it has been that way back. However I attempt to get again into that headspace. And so, despite the fact that the riff for ‘I Will Not Break’ is model new, I used to be form of within the spirit of that old-school DISTURBED, and that is what we have been hoping to do — set off [David] in that that form of means.”

In line with DISTURBED, “I Will Not Break” is “a mandatory tune, about changing into stronger than the forces that continually attempt to tear you down.” The observe consists of the stirring lyrics “I’ve had sufficient of feeling terrified, now I am deciding that I will not be hiding from anybody,” which inspires listeners to push again within the face of adversity.

Fulk beforehand labored with DISTURBED on “Divisive”, which was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.

In line with Billboard, “Divisive” bought 26,000 equal album models in its first week of launch, with 22,000 models through album gross sales.On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, “Divisive” debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had 5 No. 1s on the all-genre chart, starting with “Imagine” in 2002.

Photograph credit score: Travis Shinn