Disturbed's David Draiman speaks ahead of tonight's Birmingham gig
They're one of the loudest bands in the world. American metal quartet Disturbed will turn up the volume when they feature at Birmingham's Genting Arena alongside headliners Avenged Sevenfold tonight.
The two bands have been selling out dates around the world. Avenged have been on a roll since the success of their No1 record Hail To The King, which was supported by a sold-out arena tour and headline slot at Download Festival in June 2014.
The band, which hails from Huntington Beach, California, have now returned to the UK bigger and badder than ever.
They have become known for their spectacular live shows, routinely selling out arenas worldwide and headlining some of the biggest and most prestigious music festivals.
And they are joined on the road by Grammy-nominated hard rock titans Disturbed, who are back after a four-year hiatus with the critically acclaimed No1 album Immortalized.
The album, the band's fifth consecutive US No1, has already boasted three huge top spot-grabbing smashes The Vengeful One, The Light, and the global sensation that is their powerful version of the Simon & Garfield classic The Sound Of Silence.
Listen to Disturbed's cover of The Sound Of Silence here:
Not many people would have put money on Disturbed's biggest hit being a slow, gentle piano ballad. And yet their cover has eclipsed hard-rock smashes like Down With The Sickness and Stupify with its sales.
David Draiman, the long-time frontman for the group, says the song's success exceeded expectation.
"You always hope to transcend what you've already done, and this certainly seems to be doing just that. We really couldn't be happier. We welcome anyone and everyone to the fold, and it's just great to know that the emotion and the style of this particular version of this song is affecting so many people."
The Chicago band's last five albums, dating back to 2002's Believe and including Immortalized, all hit No1 on the Billboard 200 charts.
However, The Sound Of Silence has opened up the metal group to a new audience.
Draiman adds: "I get contacted by, and reactions from, people who have either never heard of us before, or hadn't heard from us in quite some time.
"Sometimes people are familiar with the songs but not the band, per se. This whole new door that has opened to us has been really amazing - getting people from all walks of life, getting people who probably wouldn't initially be drawn to what we do, but this song has been a key to unlock the door. Even if people just fall in love with this version of the song, it's given them the opportunity to check out the rest of our catalogue and they end up falling in love with a lot of it. It's been a really fantastic catalyst for growth."
The cover was originally suggested by drummer Mike Wengren and is the third single from Immortalized. It's even dazzled its composer, Paul Simon, who wrote the song in 1963 and '64.
"Paul Simon reached out to me directly," says Draiman. "He got my email from our management, his management reached out, and he said how much he loved the song. He reached out right after the Conan performance. He watched it and was very impressed with it, and said some amazing things that I couldn't help but post to our Facebook page. I fan-girled for a second! He ended up posting it on his own personal Facebook page, and it's really been unbelievably gratifying.
"When the original songwriter himself gives his blessing and compliments you on what you've done, when our entire intention was to pay homage to one of the most prolific and gifted songwriters of all time, it's truly overwhelming and incredibly surreal, and a very big shock.
"We couldn't have hoped for a more positive outcome. It's wonderful knowing that he loves it."
Disturbed are no strangers to cover versions, having recorded songs by U2, Faith No More and Tears for Fears.
Draiman adds: "Something that we consciously recognised when we were writing the Immortalized album was that there's no longer any reason for us to have any creative or stylistic limitations of any kind. This track and the success that has seen is only further proof and validation of that. I'm not saying that all of a sudden we're going to become an orchestral, ambient, acoustic, operatic band, but that definitely is something that we can have as part of our repertoire.
"We'll primarily be aggressive and rhythmic and empowering and driving, but it's always nice to have a caress that happens in between the multiple slaps to the face."
By Andy Richardson
