Well if there has ever been an example of middle-America rock, here it is. After establishing themselves with trademarked vocal terrets built atop staccato metal riffs on their debut long player The Sickness, the Chicago four-piece have been puttering along quite nicely without ever really challenging the formula that put them on the map in 2000.

It would appear that in order to appeal to the masses you want to keep things reasonably palatable and non-challenging. So again Disturbed have forged a bunch of iron-clad hard rock that does nothing more than extend their back catalogue.

Fronted by the clichéd vocal designs of David Draiman, Disturbed are in danger of becoming a parody of themselves. Draiman’s stuttered machine-gun style is starting to reek of repetition, his insistence on replicating the rhythms and chord progressions created by his off-siders really shackles a formidable voice and limits the boundaries he will be able to push in his career.

If you already like Disturbed then this is a solid enough outing but for the rest of us, there is little here to turn us on or change our initial perceptions of what has become a rock by numbers outfit.