Healthy glow for heavy-metal bands

“Heavy metal is still alive and well,” decreed Disturbed’s dome-headed Dave Draiman on Monday at the Wiltern, before a sold-out room full of devil-horn-finger-pumping headbangers. Indeed, the success of the second annual Music as a Weapon Tour, featuring his headlining group along with tenacious up-and-comers Unloco, Chevelle and Taproot, supports his claim, and the crowd’s enthusiasm Monday spoke for itself.

You can’t blame Draiman for being a little defensive, though. After all, the term “nu-metal” has become equated with mindless discord and buffoonery. Still, the tour’s procession of pulverizing, diverse rockers made the case for metal’s endurance.

The Chicago trio Chevelle peeled out unfettered grinds full of melody, atmosphere and raw grit, even if they lacked the showmanship to connect on a meaningful level. That wasn’t a problem for Taproot, from Ann Arbor, Mich., whose singer Stephen Richards made not one but two mid-song excursions into the crowd. Richards’ emotive croons and scorching screams were steered a forceful rhythm section, the two meshing to evoke a less beat-boxy Korn or a heavier Alice in Chains.

Comparisons are more difficult when it comes to headliners Disturbed. Draiman has one of the most distinctive voices in modern rock, a potent, pitch-perfect meld of growl and scat that’s nearly as commanding as his band’s blaring riffs.

Amid a temple-like stage set, the band tore into groove-driven songs from its latest album, “Believe,” and its debut, “The Sickness.” Draiman took time to talk about spirituality, supporting our troops and, of course, heavy metal’s health -- words that elicited screams but were ultimately less enlightening than the music itself.