FOUR HUNDRED MILLION

That was, at the time of going to press, the number of views racked up by Disturbed’s now-legendary take on Simon & Garfunkel’s The

Sound Of Silence. The unlikely cover’s globe-conquering success is symptomatic of the Chicago natives’ habit of shrugging off all expectation and defying their strongest critics in the process.

The fact is that Disturbed – and their irrepressible leader, David Draiman – are one of metal’s great success stories, evolving from a nu metal oddity into one of our biggest bands. In our world-exclusive interview, we dig inside their inexplicable, unstoppable rise to power, plus take a peek inside new album Evolution and what it means for their future.

With the metal world still reeling from the loss of Vinnie Paul, we thought it was the right time to pay a special tribute to Pantera – which is why we’ve dedicated 15 pages of this issue to their legacy. We also brought in some very special friends to help us tell their story, from the unbelievable highs of the music to the turmoil behind the scenes that saw it end in tears. We may never see another band like them.

Throw in interviews with everyone from living legends like Anthrax and Doro to modern-day heavyweights such as halestorm and Korn, right down to rising heroes like Svalbard and Skynd, and you have an issue stacked with metal from every part of the spectrum.

It’s an exciting time to be a metalhead.