Disturbed‘s brand new studio record Divisive is out today (Nov. 18), and David Draiman was right when he described the sound of it as “old-school Disturbed.” The vocalist brought back the iconic “Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” in one of the new songs, which is titled, “Part of Me,” though it sounds ever-so-slightly different.
If there’s one song that defines Disturbed, it’s “Down With the Sickness.” Everyone knows the song, and everyone has tried to emulate the “Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” at one point in their lives. Fortunately, Draimain’s still got it seven albums later, as you’ll hear in “Part of Me” around the 2:28 mark.
Now, before you come at our throats, we know it’s not the exact same sound that he made during “Down With the Sickness.” This new one is slower in pace, and he added an “ow” at the end, so it really sounds more like “Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah-ow.” But, it’s done with the same integrity as the original.
Listen to the track below to hear for yourself.
Draiman once told us how he came up with the “Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah” sound to begin with during an interview. Spoiler alert — it was not inspired by a visit to the Chicago Zoo.
“It literally just happened one day. We were practicing, and that beat that Mike starts the song off with is just very primal and tribal, and it makes you kind of go to — I guess an animalistic sort of place,” Draiman recalled. “There used to just be a pause. We used to pause, it was for dramatic impact and there was nothing. One practice I just went, ‘Ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah.'”