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System Of A Down: Mesmorize/Hypnotize
- Metal
- 2005
- Buy the CD
Reviewed by R. David Smola
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Label: Columbia/American Released: 2005 
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| Buy your copy from Amazon.com |
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System Of A Down: |
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Label: Columbia/American Released: 2005
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| Buy your copy from Amazon.com |
W
ith the release of Mezmerize in May of this year and Hypnotize in
November, System of a Down established itself as the most fascinating band in
the hard/metal/prog genre. The way in which they gleefully attack their subject
matter and blister your senses with an assault weapon’s subtlety leaves their
brothers like Sevendust and Korn at the kid’s table.
They are angry about the war, and their bile and contempt for our current policy is evident throughout the 76+ minutes of the two records. “B.Y.O.B.,” which alternates between a battering on the ear with the catchiest segment of music they have ever written, declares, “Why don’t Presidents fight the war? / Why do they always send the poor?” During “Cigaro” they observe, “We’re the regulators that deregulate / We’re the animators that de-animate / We’re the propagators of all genocide / Burning through the world’s resources / Then we turn and hide.”
Like one of their influences, Frank Zappa, they also take great delight in satirizing the culture. Zappa did it for his own bemusement but the boys in System of a Down appear to be flat out disgusted with the state of things. On “Violent Pornography,” Serj Tankian cheerfully sings, “It’s a violent pornography / Choking chicks and sodomy / The kind of shit you get on your TV.”
After the exhausting pace of the 36 minutes and 13 seconds that comprise Mezmerize, the world needed six months to process the intensity (and flat out catchiness) in preparation for Hypnotize. The second part of the project delivers much of the same in tone and lyrical content. The war and the seedy side of pop culture are very much in their cross hairs. During “Stealing Society,” Daron Malakian delivers the following lyrics: “Crack Pipes, needles, PCP and fast cars / Kind of mix really well in a dead movie star.”
“Lonely Day” from Mezmerize joins “Question!” from Hypnotize as hauntingly beautiful songs that supply enough muscle to not really be classified as ballads. They do stand out as just a bit different from the rest of the material but are not out of place, just an extension of the System of a Down sound.
Mezmerize receives one star less than Hypnotize because of the overly bizarre (even for System standards) “Vicinity of Obscenity,” which fits in the sound structure of the records but the lyrics read more like Dr. Seuss on acid. ‘Banana’ and ‘terracotta pie’ are repeated more times then I can count. It does feature a very cool, short disco like segue, but sounds as if it should have been saved for a B-side.
Regardless of your own views on these subjects you have to admire the way they channel their ideas into the monstrous structures of their sound. It is relentless, mesmerizing and hypnotizing.
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