Fans of Chicago-based heavy metal outfit Disturbed are in for a particularly good Friday tomorrow, when the band swings through New Orleans for the first time in years. Their absence hasn’t been due to any kind of ill-will toward the city–the group has just been on hiatus for nearly 5 years.

While Disturbed are best known for early 00s hits like “Down with the Sickness” and “Stupify,” the band has since cultivated a dedicated following in the close-knit hard rock and metal scenes with a string of dense albums and a knack for high-octane live shows. Those followers were as surprised as anyone this past summer, when the band dropped a new single and revealed that their next album, Immortalized, was slated for release in just two months.

The announcement was soon followed by a record release show in Chicago, which marked the band’s first performance since 2011. However it wasn’t until this year that the band returned to the road full-time, embarking on a journey that will take them to a sold out House of Blues New Orleans this Friday night. I caught up with guitarist Dan Donegan to talk about Disturbed’s return, as well as what their fans can expect from their upcoming shows.

How is it finally being back on the road for a real tour?

It’s been amazing. It’s made me realize how much we really missed this. The vibe within the band, the energy of the crowd; it’s just been great. We’ve got, obviously, a busy year ahead of us and it’s just been great getting back into the groove of things. It’s like getting back on a bike and riding it. Everything within the band is the best it’s been since the incarnation of the band. Everybody’s in good spirits and doing well.

Was it an emotional moment when you first reunited on stage in Chicago over the summer?

It was pretty emotional, pretty overwhelming. I think it was probably more emotional at the end of 2011, when we knew we were going to go on a hiatus. That was a little more emotional because I didn’t know when we would return. That was harder, to step away from it knowing that it was going to be some time. But the return was great. To come back and do a record release show, in our hometown of Chicago, and be back on that intimate stage at House of Blues. Just great. It was a bit of a tease for us because that was back in August when the album came out, and then here we are just getting the touring started this year. But it was nice to have that feeling again and know that we had something to look forward for 2016.

After five years on hiatus, what inspired you to return now?

We just missed it. We missed being away from it. It was a much needed break, but it was a time in our lives when we all needed it. David was getting married, he had his first kid during the break. Mike had his second kid. My kids are 12 and 8 now, and it gave me a chance to be home. Everybody just got to be full time dads and do our thing. We had to balance it out, the whole music career and family career. So it was much needed quality time with our families, but also just kind of getting away from each other. We’ve never really been away from each other since we formed in 1996. Not that things were bad. Everything was still good with us, but I think being away from each other made us miss what we have together even more.

I think it was around 2013 or so, right after the new year, I got on the phone with David and we were talking a bit. At some point I said I was going to take the flight out to Austin to visit him, shortly after his son was born. I wanted to come, you know, meet his son for the first time. And once we got in a room together, we just started talking about where we were with things. I knew he needed a little bit of time home, being a new dad and stuff, but at least it got us talking about the future of the band, and of potentially writing. We didn’t know how long that would be. We wanted to take our time with it and make sure we made the right album, but at least it got the wheels turning again. Once we started with that, the ideas started coming out and it really just got that excitement back in us.

I’m pretty impressed that you guys managed to keep the whole recording process a secret. It seems like people were genuinely surprised when you announced the new album. How did you even pull that off?

It was very tricky. Very difficult, obviously, in this age of social media when everybody kind of knows where you are at all times. But we didn’t want to announce anything too soon. We didn’t want to say anything that would lead our fans on. Because like I said, we didn’t know how long we were going to take with the writing process. We didn’t want to hurry things at that point, and once we started writing together, we didn’t want to get their hopes up too soon. We wanted to first make sure that we had the best album we could make. And at that point, once the ideas were coming together, we thought it would be better to surprise them with a finished album rather than news that we were talking or getting together again. If we did it that way, they might have to wait another 5, 6, 7, whatever months before they got anything from us. This way we got to drop this surprise on them: “Here’s the first single, and by the way, the album’s already recorded and done.” It was fun to see the reactions, to see everyone get all excited knowing the album was about to come.

You guys will be in New Orleans in a couple days. Have you spent a lot of time down here? Any good stories from over the years?

For sure. It’s, personally, one of my favorite cities. We’ve been there many times, and have a lot of great fans there. We actually have a bunch of family and friends that are flying in for that show because we love that city so much. Typically, we’ve had some blurry moments in that town. Some debauchery over the years, but obviously some great food and great times there. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been there in the off time too. During the hiatus I came down a couple times. I actually came down there for the Super Bowl when the Ravens were playing the 49ers. I always look for a reason to go there, so we’re excited to finally come back and play.

Are there plans to record a new album and keep up with the touring after this run wraps up?

It’s hard to say. I mean, everything is going so great right now for us. I’m assuming so, because everybody seems to be in the right head space for that. But at the moment, we’re all just kind of  in touring mode. Though we’ll usually travel with some recording gear, like Pro Tools or something, for if we have ideas and record stuff to put into the vault until the time comes. But right now, when we’re out on the road, we’ll mostly stay focused on the show and bringing the best we can to the stage. I think our heads are all right there at the moment. We’ll have to see, at the end of the cycle, how we feel. If we’re burnt out and we need to unwind and recharge the batteries a bit. But as of now, if I’m asking today, I personally feel that I would be ready to write again.

What kind of set list can fans expect at these shows? Is it going to be heavy on the new album or is it going to be a mix of material from throughout your career?

It’s definitely been a mix. We made the conscious effort this time to not only play the hits. I mean, of course the fans are going to get “Down with the Sickness” and “Stupify” and all that, but we wanted to make an effort to make sure it’s not always predictable either. We’ve been digging deep into the catalog, even pulling out some B-sides. We’ve been playing songs that we haven’t played in fifteen years, or maybe even longer. Something we played was a song called “A Welcome Burden,” which was a B-side from The Sickness. Songs like “Hell,” which was on the B-Side album. So we’ve had that space in the set list where, occasionally, we can switch it up so the fans get something different. That’s been exciting for us because it gives us a chance to play a lot of these songs that somehow have been backburners over the years. It’s been good. We’re not leaning heavy toward one album or the other. We’re definitely playing the most we can from all of our albums.

 Disturbed will perform at the House of Blues New Orleans on Friday, March 25. Tickets for the show are sold out.