Six Years Later, Disturbed’s “Sound of Silence” Remains Best Cover Ever

Over half a decade later, the audacity and confidence in which the once labeled “nu-metal” band from Chicago, “Disturbed”, tackles the seemingly untouchable “Sound of Silence” from Simon & Garfunkel, remains simply incredible.

Ten days ago, Disturbed’s album “Immortalized” turned six years old. At the time leading up to it, there was considerable excitement surrounding the album’s release. Due mainly to the fact that the band was returning from a five-year hiatus, one which saw lead singer David Draiman form a side band called “Device”, who produced one album and a couple solid songs (“Out of Line” with Serj Tankian, front man for “System of a Down”, and “Opinion” with guitarist Tom Morello from “Rage Against the Machine” and “Audioslave” are bangers), but that’s about it.

I remember glancing at the track-list when it dropped, looking for if they would be covering a song (like they did on their first self-titled album, “Tears for Fears” track “Shout” which they renamed “Shout 2000”, and on “Ten Thousand Fists” with the rendition of Genesis’ “Land of Confusion”). To my surprise, and initial horror, I saw “Sound of Silence” posted near the tail-end of the track list for the record, 11th overall. I remember thinking, “Okay, I’ve always liked ‘Disturbed’ for the most part, but if they get this wrong it could shift my opinion of them considerably in the opposite direction.”

That’s how much of a classic the 1964 original version by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is.

Listening to the album track by track, let’s just say it wasn’t the band’s best effort. It wasn’t necessarily a bad album, just nothing super surprising. I was getting super nervous around the tenth track, arguably the worst song the band has put out called “Fire It Up” where it’s just about Draiman talking about smoking weed after a long day’s work. This wasn’t exactly leading into the most anticipated track on the album well in my eyes.

And then I heard the gentle piano intro of their version of “Sound of Silence” begin to play, followed by Draiman’s haunting, low-key vocals. I didn’t know where things were headed but within the first ten seconds, I knew this had potential to be special if executed properly. Initially, my thoughts were, “I hope this is a slow-burn kind of track where the vocals are upped little by little, and there are some strings involved.” Even though this is how it unfolded, I couldn’t have imagined each transition into the next frame of the song being so seamless and effortless.

I always knew Draiman had some range and softness to offset the animalistic growls and howls he would showcase often in most of the band’s discography. The song “Darkness” from the band’s 2002 album “Believe” comes to mind where this gentler side is put on full display. And we hear this tone for about half of “Sound of Silence”. Ever so slowly, Draiman takes his hushed whisper of a tone to start the record, and morphs his voice into an echoing growl by the track’s end. Belting out with raw, unadulterated power the song’s final verses. It’s chilling, powerful, and most of all, inexplicably moving.

The 1964 version from Simon and Garfunkel is ominous and prophetic, of society being blinded by the advances made in human technology, where “the people bow and pray, to the neon god they made.” Disturbed’s version seems like a fulfillment of that prophecy coming true, neatly serving as a bookend to what Simon and Garfunkel tried to warn us about. Now, with “Disturbed” upping the ante in the song’s tone, the horror has come true. Humanity has their faces in their phones, tablets, and computers, and has become absolute zombies and slaves to those advances in technology Simon & Garfunkel predicted would appear over the horizon.

Because of all of this, I think this is the best cover of all-time. You could make a very strong case for Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”. After all, it was one of the final songs Cash ever did right before his death, which basically encapsulates his career and more importantly, his life and his regrets and successes along the way. I won’t argue with those saying that’s the best cover ever.

But to me, Disturbed absolutely knock it out of the park with “Sound of Silence”. So much so that Simon actually reached out to Draiman giving him his approval on their cover.

The last thing I’ll say, is that after I heard this song for the first time and was stunned by how amazing it sounded, I remember going downstairs (I was still living at home at the time) and playing it for my dad. Telling him it was a heavy metal band covering one of his favorite songs. He appeared open to giving it a try, but understandably cynical considering his love for the original and the fact that he grew up with that song. By the time Draiman had dialed it up to 11 near the song’s finale, I could tell he was floored. When it came to an end, he turned to me and said, “This might be better than the original.”

That’s a discussion for another time, but maybe something like this is the coolest and most unique thing about this cover overall. The bond it shares between different generations, who since then have found more an appreciation for each other’s music. Older generations maybe a little more open to giving newer music a try after hearing this rendition, and younger people being more curious about looking back to the time of “Simon and Garfunkel” and seeing what else they made and who else was making great music like them.

That kind’ve bond to tie 50 years together is special, and it’s why “Sound of Silence” remains an iconic track that will live on forever.

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Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

Live performance on “Conan”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7RVw3I8eg