DISTURBED's DAVID DRAIMAN On Recording 'Immortalized' In Secret: 'We Wanted People To Be Caught Off Guard'

DISTURBED has come roaring back with a new single called "The Vengeful One", to be followed by a new album, "Immortalized", on August 21. The band ended its four-year hiatus on June 23 with the release of the single and video and the news about the record.

"Immortalized" is available for pre-order everywhere and follows 2010's gold-certified "Asylum", DISTURBED's fourth consecutive No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart.

The album process got underway back in January 2014 when singer David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren got together for dinner in their hometown of Chicago.

Soon after, without notifying friends, families, or their label, the three began to fly back and forth to each other's respective home studios for writing sessions, marking the first time they collectively wrote together since 2001.

Speaking about the veil of secrecy that surrounded the making of "Immortalized", Draiman told Seattle's KISW radio station (hear audio below): "Isn't there something amazing about getting a really nice surprise? There's something… even the built-in momentum of surprising someone. There definitely was method to that madness. We wanted people to be caught off guard, we wanted people to be shocked. We wanted people to be pleasantly surprised, and for that surprise to fuel fervor, hopefully, and hopefully it's building to that."

According to the singer, keeping DISTURBED's comeback plans a secret for more than a year was no easy task. "It took a lot of effort to do that — a lot of white lies, and NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] and story telling… a lot of family and friends getting pissed off at you because you won't really tell 'em everything that's going on," he said. "So it was a burden that I'm glad I no longer have to carry. And the surprise factor has definitely seemed to work. It was part of our plan all along to, kind of, come out of nowhere. We didn't know whether or not we would be able to accomplish it, because it was one hell of a challenge, but we were able to pull it off somehow, and I think that the results are speaking for themselves."

Draiman also shot down rumors that DISTURBED's 2011 decision to take a break was fueled by internal strife. He said: "The one beautiful thing about our camp is that we've always stayed family, we've always been on good terms with each other. And that was the beautiful thing about recording ['Immortalized'] in [Las] Vegas. People [would be], like, 'There are so many people coming through Las Vegas. Why there? You shouldn't be seen there.' Yeah, but you know what?! How unusual is it to see a member from the band DISTURBED partying in Vegas? It's not something completely out of left field, and we're actually friends with one another, so seeing us together in Vegas is also not completely out of left field. So it kind of gave us what we like to refer to as 'plausible deniability.'"

In addition to 15 new songs — including 12 on the album and three more on the deluxe edition — "Immortalized" contains a cover of SIMON & GARFUNKEL's "The Sound Of Silence".

DISTURBED has yet to announce tour plans behind the new record.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn