System of a Down stays left of center
By Alan Sculley Weekender Correspondent

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Posted on Wed, Jul. 19, 2006email thisprint this

System Of A Down’s 2001 CD, "Toxicity," was a huge victory for fans
of adventurous music. The album stretched the boundaries of hard rock
and heavy metal, employing frenetic stop-and-start beats, crunching
guitars and offbeat and hyper vocals to create a sound that careened
from moment to moment, yet somehow was both catchy and stirring.

The chaotic, left-of-center sound was hardly a recipe for mainstream
success, yet that’s exactly what "Toxicity" became. A multi-platinum
seller, the CD debuted at number one on the "Billboard" magazine
album chart and spawned four hit singles, including the chart-topping
"Aerials."

With the prospect of even bigger success within reach, many fans
undoubtedly wondered if System Of A Down would rein in some of
the unpredictable and unconventional tendencies that characterized
"Toxicity." But to hear guitarist/singer Daron Malakian tell it,
fans never had anything to worry about when it came to the band’s
next project, the release of two CDs, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize,"
just six months apart last year.

As the band’s chief songwriter, Malakian is clearly driven not by
financial reward, but by his creativity.

"That’s what makes you wealthy, man, not money," he said in a recent
phone interview from his home base of Los Angeles. "Money doesn’t
bring me happiness. We’ve done well. I’ve bought myself a house and a
car and stuff. That stuff doesn’t bring me happiness. For me it’s all
about the next song or taking what I’ve done to another level. That’s
what gets me high."

System Of A Down have been following their unique musical path since
1994, when Malakian and singer/keyboardist Serj Tankian – who had
started a group called Soil the year before – added Shavo Odadjian
on bass and changed the band name to System Of A Down. Drummer John
Dolmayan came on board in 1996, and two years later, after landing
a deal with American Recordings, the band released their self-titled
debut CD, followed by "Toxicity" in 2001.

> > From the start, Malakian said, he and Tankian (who shares lyric
writing duties in the band and is heavily involved in helping shape
the final form of the songs) put musical development as their number
one priority.

"When we were a club band, we always used to say ‘Man, if we ever
see success, we’d like to open doors for other people, to push the
boundaries and fully contribute something to art, to music, that is
going to help it evolve instead of doing stuff for the sake of money or
doing stuff for the sake of being popular or whatever," Malakian said.

Given that mindset, it’s no surprise that the members of System Of
A Down, who have announced they will go on an extended hiatus after
headlining this summer’s Ozzfest tour, kept musical growth as a key
goal for "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize."

"We wanted to make a record that was a success beyond where we were
at," Malakian said. "All of my favorite bands evolved, and I really
wanted our band to evolve, and so did Serge. We were just focused
on not repeating ourselves, not putting out (another) ‘Toxicity,’
not doing the same things all over again. So yeah, we were pushing
it a little bit."

Malakian and his bandmates can consider that mission accomplished,
as both "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" went straight to number one on
"Billboard’s" album chart upon their releases. Both CDs are every
bit as daring and difficult to categorize as "Toxicity."

"Mezmerize" is the more approachable of the two albums, with many of
the songs being even more melodic than the group’s past work. Songs
like "Revenga," and "Violent Pornography," and "Radio/Video,"
in particular, feature soaring vocals from Tankian and Malakian,
plenty of catchy instrumental riffs and other nifty sonic twists.

"Hypnotize," has its melodic songs as well, including "Dreaming" and
"Kill Rock ‘N Roll," but overall is a bit more chaotic musically.

At the same time, System Of A Down has not softened their sound. Just
note "B.Y.O.B.," the popular first single from "Mezmerize." That track
opens with pummeling guitars and an unhinged screaming vocal before
shifting into hookier, but still hard-hitting territory. "Vicinity
Of Obscenity," from "Hypnotize," is full of sudden twists and turns
in melody, rhythm and even the vocals.

Malakian, who wrote most of the music for "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize,"
pushed out material at a voluminous rate for the new CDs. In fact,
he wrote so many songs that for a time System Of A Down considered
making the new record a double CD.

In the end, the band opted to split the material into separate
single-disc sets, with "Mezmerize" to be followed by "Hypnotize."

"As a writer I kind of go crazy," said Malakian. "I even had like at
least 20 or 30 more songs to bring into the band. But we had to stop
and get into the studio at some point. I mean, what I do is I write a
lot of songs, just a lot of stuff, and hopefully pick the best out of
the bulk. There are so many things that I still didn’t bring into the
band that probably could have made the record. So it’s not unusual,
though. That’s just the way I work."