Jerusalem Post
June 21 2005
Metal’s new political voice
By HARRY RUBENSTEIN
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Mesmerize
(NMC)
With the dispersion of American political rockers Rage Against the
Machine, the metal scene needed a new band to don the mantle.
Enter System of a Down (SOAD), a Los Angeles-based ethnic-Armenian
nu-metal outfit that blasted onto the scene in the mid-Nineties. With
one of the most unique sounds around, SOAD literally left its
contemporaries in the dust (and in used CD bins around the world).
On Mesmerize, the first of two releases set for 2005 (Hypnotize will
hit stores this fall), the band opens with “B.Y.O.B.” a syncopated
thrash-inspired number that quickly turns into a maelstrom of chaotic
noise. When the chorus hits, Serj Tankian melodically belts the R&B
sounding and incredibly sarcastic line “Everybody’s going to the
party, have a real good time. Dancing in the desert blowing up the
sunshine.”
The attack on the war in Iraq continues as he screams: “Why don’t
presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?”
The relentless sonic assault continues as SOAD squeezes 11
unapologetic, fast-paced songs saturated in melody, inventive time
signatures and adventurous harmonies into an astounding 36 minutes.
Besides its obvious musical prowess, SOAD’s greatest strength is the
band’s embracing of its Armenian heritage. The group is as inspired
by Eighties LA hardcore music as it is by its ethnic roots, and there
are numerous instances when the songs devolve into Armenian folk,
with the appropriate ethnic guitar riffage eventually taking it into
a beautifully harmonious mess of metal.
Guitarist Daron Malakian’s harmonies are outstanding, and at times,
his Middle-Eastern-inspired guitar playing adds to the relevance of
this quirky yet outstanding metal album.