SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, WA
Sept 30 2005

Serious, silly, spellbinding: Band knows how to ‘Mezmerize’ its fans

By GENE STOUT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER POP MUSIC CRITIC

System of a Down — a high-decibel foursome with a devilish sense of
humor and an unlikely blend of musical styles — may be one of
today’s most successful arena-rock bands. But the Armenian American
group hasn’t forgotten its roots.

COMING UP
SYSTEM OF A DOWN, THE MARS VOLTA AND HELLA

WHAT: Rock concert
WHEN: Wednesday night at 7
WHERE: KeyArena
TICKETS: $31.50-$44 at Ticketmaster

“There’s a commonality there, a common denominator culturally,”
singer Serj Tankian said by phone en route to a show in Minneapolis.

“That’s been a strength in some ways, but it’s also an understanding
of the dynamics of music and the different beats and melodies that
wouldn’t be common to a non-Armenian.”

Tankian never planned to be in an Armenian American rock band, it
just turned out that way. He started playing with singer and
guitarist Daron Malakian in high school, and they later hooked up
with drummer John Dolmayan and bassist Shavo Odadjian. The group
signed a recording contract with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings
label in the late ’90s, and Rubin has produced their records every
since.

The group’s 2001 album, “Toxicity,” arrived just before the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks and served as a kind of soundtrack for the national
trauma.

“It was kind of luck or destiny that it ended up this way,” Tankian
said.

Currently on its first major North American tour in three years, the
band Newsweek magazine dubbed “L.A.’s Armenian Idols” performs
Wednesday night at KeyArena with The Mars Volta and Hella.

Tankian and his bandmates took time out from the tour on Tuesday to
lead a rally for the Armenian National Committee of America at the
Batavia, Ill., office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert to urge his
support of Armenian genocide legislation.

If passed, the legislation will officially recognize the genocide of
1.5 million Armenians in Turkey from 1915 to 1923.

“We want to encourage him to do the right thing and bring it to the
floor for a vote,” Tankian said. “(Hastert) has had the opportunity
to do it twice before and has not for different reasons. It’s been
five years and everyone is tired of waiting.”

The tour supports the release of the platinum-selling album,
“Mezmerize,” the first CD in a two-part set that includes a companion
album, “Hypnotize,” due in stores Nov. 17.

“Mezmerize” is a schizophrenic album that blends howling vocals and
blistering guitars with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation
(as well as violins, cellos and violas) and barbed social commentary.
The album explores politics, Hollywood phoniness, and life and death.
It may sound like an impossible mix, but it’s provocative and
entertaining — serious and silly at the same time.

“Why don’t presidents fight the war?/ Why do they always send the
poor?” Tankian screams on the anti-war song “B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own
Bombs).”

For Tankian, who grew up in Lebanon, strong anti-war feelings come
naturally.

“I always say that if you come from a place where you hear bombs
dropped on a city, you’d be reluctant to drop bombs on any city,” he
said.

Pornography comes under fire in “Violent Pornography”: “It’s a
violent pornography/ Choking chicks and sodomy.” “Cigaro” is an
X-rated song that has Tankian and Malakian in a hilariously operatic
vocal duel that recalls Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“It’s probably a combination of personal and non-personal matters
that have led us to where we are musically,” Tankian said.

“I’m not comfortable with just entertaining. Although I like
entertaining, I also like bringing forward the truth of our times as
minstrels used to in the old days.”

“Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” were recorded and mixed at the same time,
but scheduled for release six months apart.

“The packaging is designed so that when people buy the second record,
they can attach it to the first, making it a double record,” Tankian
said.

The band decided to release two discs instead of one because they had
so much good material from recording sessions.

“That doesn’t sound very modest, but that’s what it is. As we were
writing and recording, we realized that there was no way we could
decide what songs were going to be on the record,” he said.

“And we’re not fans of long, long records.”

Tankian described Rubin, a superproducer who has worked with everyone
from the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash, as a nurturing presence in the
studio.

“He brings a lot out of you, but he doesn’t try to completely change
things. He tries to let the beast be the beast.”