Winnipeg Sun, Canada
May 20 2005
CD Review: System of a Down: Mezmerize
Indispensible System
By DARRYL STERDAN — Winnipeg Sun
System of a Down
Mezmerize
(Columbia/Sony BMG)
If you buy just one album this year by an Armenian-American avant-metal
band … well, you’ll still be missing one.
Mezmerize, the first album in four years from L.A. foursome System
of a Down, is also their first of two discs this year. The other —
Hypnotize — is due in November. And if it’s even half as intense and
insane as this 36-minute conniption fit of ferocity and freakiness,
the return of Old Man Winter won’t be so bad.
Helmed by producer Rick Rubin, the 11-cut Mezmerize might be the
sharpest and most potent work of the band’s career, with massive riffs,
huge choruses, thundering beats and a guitar sound razor-sharp enough
to slice off the top of your head.
Even better: On top of all that aggression, there’s still plenty
of the band’s trademark absurdity. Guitarist and chief songwriter
Daron Malakian’s arrangements are ADD masterpieces that gene-splice
everything from metal and punk to surf and Armenian folk. Plus he’s
got one helluva crazed shriek that complements singer Serj Tankian’s
wobbly Jello Biafran yowl quite nicely.
Toss in some political lyrics laced with sardonic symbolism (“My c–
is much bigger than yours”) and enough ’70s-rock harmonies to make
Freddie Mercury jealous, and you’ve got a band that qualifies as the
missing link between Frank Zappa and Rage Against the Machine. And
in Mezmerize, you’ve got the first half of what could very well be
one of the year’s most indispensible double-plays.
Track Listing:
1. Soldier Side – Intro
2. B.Y.O.B.
3. Revenga
4. Cigaro
5. Radio/Video
6. This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song
7. Violent Pornography
8. Question!
9. Sad Statue
10. Old School Hollywood
11. Lost in Hollywood