Disturbed

Heavy metal will mutate in a thousand directions, taking on pop, hip-hop, ritual killing and even short hair in their turns. But the truism that the music will never disappear, always finding a new generation of misfit kids to carry the torch, remains no less obvious in the 21st century. Disturbed are testament. Led by one of those former "maladjusted" teens, singer David Draiman (veteran of five separate school expulsions), this Chicago-based band has already outlived many mainstream-friendly acts and fusion-minded fads. Rooted in the styles of Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and their ultra-hard brethren, Disturbed also recall the fierceness of early Metallica while maintaining fidelity to a belief in making a song's case, then quickly shutting up. After their debut, The Sickness, took off in 2000, they were invited to play the main stage at 2001's Ozzfest, and their growing popularity led to platinum (and multiplatinum) ratings for a string of albums across the decade, culminating in 2008's Indestructible; the following year they took stock of their career with The Complete Studio Albums.