Disturbed’s ‘Down With the Sickness’ Wins Best Metal Song of the 21st Century in Metal Madness 2016
March Metal Madness 2016 has come to an end! We started with 32 contenders all vying for the right to be crowned the Best Metal Song of the 21st Century. In the Final Round, it came down to Disturbed's "Down With the Sickness" against Avenged Sevenfold's "Nightmare." Disturbed had taken down some of the biggest names in metal up to this point and they used that momentum to secure the ultimate victory!
David Draiman had kept a watchful eye over the tournament as the rounds progressed. We recently spoke with Draiman while the competition was still going on, and he talked about the fan support the song had been getting. "It's tremendously humbling," Draiman began. "You know, I often look at that song as our "Rock and Roll All Nite" song that we'll never be able to leave out of the set (laughs) and the noise that I'll always be remembered for. But at the end of the day it is a tremendously powerful song and it always will be and it affects so many people because of how it makes them feel."
Speaking about the song's rise in popularity, Draiman continued, "It came and it flourished at a time when people needed a song like that. It was song that was chosen on its own. We didn't choose it. It was a song we never originally intended to be a single. We thought it was too dark, too abrasive. It was actually radio that started playing it on its own — an edited version without that little rant in the middle so that they could play it without having to bleep out quite so much profanity (laughs). Much the way that "The Sound of Silence" right now is being embraced in the way that it is, it's a very similar scenario. They both grew and spread organically. And it just goes to show the true depth, meaning and passion will find a way."
In Round One, Disturbed took on Ghost and their Grammy-winning "Cirice," moving on to match up against Anthrax's "The Devil You Know." From there, "Down With the Sickness" took on Slipknot's "Duality" and having defeated the mighty 'Knot, they gained entry into the Final Round with a victory over Iron Maiden's "The Wicker Man" in the seminfinals. Finally, they edged out Avenged Sevenfold with 53 percent of the votes for the victory.
While "Down With the Sickness" plowed through the competition, Draiman admitted he didn't think they'd be able to take down some of metal's finest. "I can only be tremendously thankful and absolutely humbled because of the legends that we've been up against as far as this competition," he said, continuing, "I thought for sure when we went up against Maiden that we would lose terribly (laughs). Several steps of this thing, whether it's Slipknot or Maiden, there's no way we're going to beat these guys, but lo and behold it's been happening. I'm pleased and just very very flattered beyond words and just very grateful to the strongest and most dedicated fan base that any band could ever hope for."
Congratulations to Disturbed and their song "Down With the Sickness" for winning our 2016 March Metal Madness competition to determine the Best Metal Song of the 21st Century, and thank you to all the readers for voting each week!
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See How the March Metal Madness Competition Played Out: