Blabbermouth.net, NY
April 14 2005

SYSTEM OF A DOWN: New Album Unveiled At NYC Listening Session – Apr.
14, 2005

Launch Radio Networks reports: SYSTEM OF A DOWN held an exclusive
preview of “Mezmerize”, the first half of SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s new
double-CD set, Wednesday night (April 13) in New York City. The
listening session for the record were held at a hotel in the city’s
downtown Soho district. The second half of the “Mezmerize/Hypnotize”
project, titled “Hypnotize”, is due out sometime this fall.

“Mezmerize” features ten songs, plus one short intro, that for the
most part echo the manic, eccentric feel of the band’s 1998
self-titled debut. With the exception of the closing track, a
haunting ballad called “Lost In Hollywood”, much of the album pummels
the listener with frantic riffs, stop-on-a-dime tempo changes, and
staccato vocal trade-offs between singer Serj Tankian and guitarist
Daron Malakian. But there are stylistic touches, like keyboards and
the band’s trademark Eastern influences, that keep the fast-moving
album from becoming one-dimensional.

Other highlights include first single “B.Y.O.B.”, the almost
danceable “Revenga”, and the New Wave-inspired “Old School
Hollywood”.

“Mezmerize” arrives in stores on May 17.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN will stage its annual Souls benefit, in memory of
Armenian genocide victims, on April 24 at the Universal Amphitheatre
in Los Angeles. A full North American tour is tentatively slated for
August and September.