The Boston Herald
August 29, 2005 Monday
ALL EDITIONS
MUSIC REVIEW;
For thrash-metal sound, you can’t beat the System
By Linda Laban
System of a Down, the Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip, at the DCU Center,
Worcester, Saturday night.
Smart-rock ruled Worcester this weekend.
Following the Mars Volta’s cancellation of its European tour in June,
due to guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s illness, the experimental
combo was back and in stunning form, supporting System of a Down at
the DCU Center.
This time out, too, Mars Volta included former At the Drive-In
bandmate Paul Hinojas, who recently quit Sparta (the other Drive-In
offshoot), to man Volta’s tape loops and sound manipulation. Fronted
by dapper-looking, pipe-thin singer Cedric Bixler, the expanded
eight-man touring lineup also added keyboards, percussion, saxophone
and flute – all jamming on Mars Volta’s beautiful, fierce music,
which culls from prog rock, classic rock, Latino-Cuban and free jazz.
Familiar reference points aside, the result was epic songs that
sounded unique and boundless.
Similar to Mars Volta’s delving into its founding members’ Latin
heritage, headliner System of a Down co-opts curious, and amusing,
Eastern European stylings in its bombastic, thrash-rooted metal,
echoing the Los Angeles quartet’s Armenian heritage. System of a Down
is one band whose music fits a stadium with ease. No need for added
theatrics: The songs are already so intense they breathe heartily in
such a vast space, becoming truly realized. If on record the band is
a manic, frenzied affair, filled with agit-prop ADD rock, then live
System of a Down is dignified and commanding.
Though the band is touring for its recently released platinum-selling
“Mezmerize,” the avid Massachusetts fans got a taste of System’s
similarly styled forthcoming companion disc, “Hypnotize,” due in
November.
The thrashy metal punch and Slavic strut at the base of most songs
was blindsided by abrupt passages of whacky reggae, and quieted by
frontman Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian’s keen folky vocal
harmonies, both adding more layers to this voluptuous music. Then,
amid all this pomp and punch, the catchy “Violent Pornography,” with
its surfy guitar licks and sing-along chorus, came off as a pop romp.
Metal, outside the box. Smart.