Guitarist DAN DONEGAN, drummer MIKE WENGREN, and bassist FUZZ were fed up with auditions and rehearsals with people who just didn't fit their style and vision. Chicago's punishing scene is difficult enough for young and uncompromising bands as it is; the long-time trio of friends were at their wits' end.

Then they discovered vocalist DAVID DRAIMAN three years ago, and everything changed. He even brought a new name for the band with him: DISTURBED.

"Since Dave joined three years ago, the three of us have developed incredibly," admits Fuzz. "He was the first singer who came in and said, "Let's improvise," adds Dan. "That took some balls. No other singer who we had worked with had done that. They all wanted to sing covers of other bands' songs."

David came from a conservative religious family that had different plans for him... a salesman at Sears, a teacher, a minister...a doctor maybe? -- certainly not the lead singer in a rock band with a name and an attitude that are both "Disturbed." David is well versed in the act of going against the grain. "My whole life, people have set out a certain path that they wanted me to follow," he gravely begins. "It didn't quite work out that way. Our songs and our image are about how the reverse effect has occurred -- going to and getting kicked out of five different boarding schools didn't help, along with everyone trying to make all of us into what society would have us to be."

David's guttural fits, along with the equally disquieting expressions -- musical and otherwise -- of his new comrades, soon made them the toast of Chicago's South Side clubs. One highly traded demo tape later, DISTURBED was well on its way. The music included on the quartet's debut for Giant Records surges without extraneous guitar solos and bellows its vein-popping rage without losing the keen, controlled eye of the master predator.

Yeah. Before long, they were sharing stages with the likes of hometown titans Ministry. "We wanted to set ourselves apart from everyone else right from the start," comments Mike on his and Dan's use of samples and electronic programming. "The electronics and stuff like that? It's there mostly for ear candy."