Disturbed - M.O.L.

Heavy metal outfit Disturbed formed in Chicago in 1997 when, while in separate bands, long time friends Dan Donegan, Mike Wengren and Fuzz joined forces with singer David Draiman. They advertised in the Illinois Advertiser for a lead singer and after wading through the many deadbeats who responded, David strolled in to audition and the chemistry was instant. Draiman had been raised in a religious family from which he rebelled after being expelled from five boarding schools. Disturbing behaviour indeed...

"Wa-ca-ca-ca!"

After signing with Giant Records, the band released their debut album The Sickness in 2000, which went on to sell over two million copies. Following this as co-headliners of the 2001 OzzFest and building up a larger following, they did a victory lap of the US on their own. Working with producer Johnny K. and mixer Andy Wallace, the band then set about recording their second album Believe. This was released in 2002 and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, demonstrating influences from bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Pantera and Soundgarden.

M.O.L. is a documentary style feature looking at the band from their beginnings to the tour supporting their first album. There is plenty of backstage footage, interviews with the band, live performances and video clips. Songs shown in full during this documentary are Want (Live), Conflict (Live), Stupify (Video), Fear (Live), Voices (Video), Droppin’ Plates (Live), Shout 2000 (Live), Down With the Sickness (Video) and The Game (Live). The documentary also offers the option of two camera angles for some of the footage. There are also subtitles in several languages and a track selection where you can play the music video and live clips only. This main feature runs for 81:33 and is both interesting and entertaining.

On top of this there is a great bonus concert feature running for over 20 minutes containing five songs. Songs are from the same show as those shown in the documentary, but this time there is the choice of Dolby Digital 2.0, DD 5.1 and DTS surround, making this a real treat. Songs contained are Fear, Droppin’ Plates, Shout 2000, Conflict and The Game. The concert only contains the one default camera angle and no subtitles, but is still awesome.

To be honest, I had never heard of this band prior to this release and was quite blown away by them. They sound great and really have a great attitude towards their music and fans. Their friendship is obvious and their humour is quite addictive, plus the use of the word “gay� as a derogatory term is somehow acceptable when used by these guys. Another pleasant surprise is to see a band of this genre doing a cover of the Tears For Fears hit Shout.

This DVD offers metal fans a great introduction and for existing fans offers a very worthy collection of material. For a band that had only released one album prior to this, my theory is we will see a lot more of this band, disturbing really.

Presented primarily in full frame with a large portion of concert footage in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the quality of this transfer varies greatly. The majority of footage used contains a lot of grain, some lack of detail and over saturation of colours, but with a release such as this it only adds to the raw feel of the band. The overall quality is not great, but you really don’t expect or want pristine vision for this type of documentary.

The concert footage is a lot better, again suffering from loss of detail and over saturation, but still very well filmed and edited. Footage used in the extras again varies greatly, but is by far the worst quality. There are problems with pixelisation and a lot of grain, but this is due to the source material for the most part.

Please also be aware that this is an NTSC release, so you will need that capability.

For the M.O.L. documentary, audio is the default Dolby Digital 2.0. This is more than adequate and again varies dependent upon footage used. Dialogue is clear at all times and synch is never a problem. Music is evenly spread across the front channels and provides an overall nice sound. For the bonus concert footage, there is a choice of three tracks. First is the Dolby Digital 2.0 that is equal to that used for the documentary. Next is the Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and now we’re talking. This track offers a great concert feel with good separation. The subwoofer gets a wake up call and bursts into life for this bass driven band. Lastly is a DTS 5.1 surround track, which is slightly better than the DD 5.1, offering a slightly fuller sound. Overall, all tracks are good, but the DTS is the track of choice.

Quite a few extras accompany this release. There is a Photo Shoot, an early video for Perfect Insanity, unused footage from M.O.L. on Band Origin and a look at the Worst Venue. There are also seven more featurettes filmed in the studio during the recording of their first album plus an Easter egg. All extras are enjoyable and run for varying lengths from 30 seconds up to almost ten minutes. Picture quality is poor on some, but this is acceptable considering most were filmed with a Handycam.

Overall this is a great value release. Fans of the band should love it and newcomers to Disturbed should find them very entertaining. As far as metal bands go, they are not the best musically or visually, personal opinion can only dictate who is, but these guys have a great sound and a great drive to go places. Offering a good sample of their first album and plenty of backstage footage and interviews, along with a decent selection of concert footage, this release is well worth adding to the collection for any metal fans out there. Disturbed look like a band that will be around for a while to come so check them out... wa-ca-ca-ca!