Today, the band are in New York City, hard at work on mixing and mastering there upcoming album, Believe. Actually, only half of the band is here, guitarist Dan Donegan and singer Draiman. The other two--drummer Mike Wengren and bassist Fuzz--are back home in Chi-town, working on the stage particulars for when the band go out and tour. And tour they will. Last time, Disturbed didn't come home for almost two-and-a-half years, and still they managed to only take one month off before starting work on album number two.

"The songs come to us unusually quickly," says Draiman in that controlled, calm and articulate speaking voice he has. "We're talking about a three month gestation period of writing, from January to March."

Donegan, whose riffs tend to form the genesis for the creation of Disturbed's songs, says that the band was under no pressure to give an album to the label. "I don;t even think they expected us to deliver a record to them this year, with all the touring that we did!" he laughs. "They thought we'd want to come home and relax for a bit. We took December off, but we got together after January 1 and the ideas just started coming very quickly."

The band worked on the new album with Sickness producer Johnny K in Chicago, completing thirteen massive songs that meld thick, huge guitars with choruses so memorable that they aought to double as commercial jingles. Althought the band appeared happy while making there first record--as shown on there first home video and DVD release, M.O.L.--this time things went so smoothly, with such brilliant results, that the band's label, Warner Bros., is primed to make Believe one of theire major releases of the year. Well, there are moments of incredible on the new record, and Draiman sings with power and force, creating a persona that isn't just exaggerated, but not one that's brimming with righteousness. These days, the frontman still wears two steel fangs through his lower lip that dangle menacingly about his chin. He's thinner than he used to be, the result of a conscious change in his diet. "Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the band, I don;t have the metabolism to drink beer and eat ice cream all day, and stay thin!"

A two-time guest on ABC's now-canceled Politically Incorrect, the frontman is not one to shrink from passing judgment. When he scolds the close-minded on new song "Liberate," the debase on "Awaken" or the shamed on "Prayer," he blasts them with his moral indignation, almost like Samuel L. Jackson's Jules in Pulp Fiction.

"Look, it's no secret that I'm an incredibly opinionated and judgmental individual!" he grins. "But I think that somebody needs to stand for something, and our music has always been the type that calls for more attention than something very easily digested. It's something that deals with more grandiose and grander things and themes. It is almost a 'religous' experience, if you will."

METAL EDGE: So, how does one get a Kraut, a Mick, a Kike, and a Palock all together in one room to make great metal music?
Dan DONEGAN: How do you know our secret nick-name?!?
[Laughing]
DAVID DRAIMAN: It's true, those are our superhero nicknames: "Kraut," "Mick," "Kike," and "Palock." Initially, forthe writing process, it's not all four of us in the same room. It always starts with Danny.
DAN: Usually, I'll have a few riffs in mind, a rough structure, and I'll bring them into Mike and Fuzz and we'll work on the beats and try to nail down something to give to David to work woth and get a melody for. At that point, I'll go over to David's house and he'll sing me the melody, and we'll discuss what we need to lengthen or shorten, to make whatever structure changes that we need to do.
ME: There weren't any holdovers from the early days?
DAVID: Nope. All fresh.
DAN: There wasnt anything that was held ver from the first album, but there were two songs--"Prayer" and "Awaken"--that we were playing live during our last touring cycle. We played "prayer" on the Music As A Weapon Tour, but it's a bit of a different tune now.
ME: Were you thinking about radio songs when you were writing this album? All of the new songs sound as if they could be potential hits.
DAVID: We were thinking about strong songs, period. There is no formula that we adhered to.
DAN: We never focus on writing for radio, because at the time we were writing the songs for our first album, we didn;t think we had a chance of getting on the radio with any of them, let alone "Down With The Sickness" or "Stupify". In our hometown, they weren;t playing any heavy metal on the radio, and we were a metal band from the south suburbs playing in small clubs. We had no idea that we would ever be played on the radio, and that was the same attitude we took this time. It just so happens that the form that works best for us is this three- or four-and-a-half-mnute song form.
ME: Were you surprised that so much of The Sickness was included on radio's playlists, along with Korn and Limp Bizkit?
DAVID: It was shocking. I mean, I think we were clearly one of the heaviest sounds that you heard on the radio at any given point in time. In a way, it was groundbreaking. I think that we were a hard "sell" to radio, unlike Korn who had some more melodic songs than we do. But because we were a surprise succes on radio, it was that much more gratifying.
ME: What aspect of Disturbed did you want to emphasize with this new record?
DAVID: We anted to just try and go in different directions. Very early in the writing, Danny and I spoke about about what sort of direction we wanted to take, and I asked him to give me the opportunity to run with the melody, to really get melodic and to open up in certain areas.
ME: And does Dan say to you, "Well, that sounds at odds with what I do, which is write and play heavy-metalriffs"?