System Of A Down – Mezmerize
(American/Columbia)

System of a Down will never get through to some people. They’ve been unfairly been written off by many as just another nu metal band that will come and go. While its true that SOAD have risen on the shoulders of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, its sad that once again the Armenian American rockers will still probably wont be taken very seriously.

Regardless, this, their third album (discounting the b-sides “Steal this Album” of a couple years back), is undoubtedly, one of the best hard rock/heavy metal albums of the new millennium, and for better or worse, the most anthemic politically driven album since Rage Against the Machine’s debut.

I always thought the quickest description of System of a Down was a combination of Slayer and the Dead Kennedys (Don’t believe me? Have you listened to “California Uber Alles” lately?), with their own off the wall touch thrown in. With Mezmerize, there are even more influences to be spotted in this complete Readers Digest of some of the most subversive bands of the last couple generations. “BYOB” is a Sabbath-esque “War Pigs” type political anthem, filtered through Jello Biafra-esque sarcastic, garbled and warbled vocals, as Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian advocate Presidents fight the war instead of the poor.

The irony and sarcasm also tread through “Cigaro” and “Radio/Video”, which busts out even more complex song structures, at times reminding of Frank Zappa, who could get across a gonzo sense of humor, being goofy and not taking itself entirely seriously, but restraining from being funny to the point of compromising the song’s integrity. Each of these songs is relentlessly catchy, with sure-fire sing-along status, from the chorus of “Choking chicks and sodomy/the Kind of Shit you get on your TV” on “Violent Pornography” to the depressed state of division in the US expressed on “Sad Statue”

The album maintains a greater variety than previous albums by guitarist Daron Malakian’s ascension to co-vocalist. He’s a constant and consistent presence here, sounding like Maynard James Keenan at some times and like a nasal nu-punker at others. The album closes on a similar note as “Toxicity” with Daron at the forefront, putting together their longer, “deeper” song.

Are there negative things to say about this record? I guess so, but they’re not really going to drive the rating too far down, as theres way more good than bad to be found. I have no problem with short albums, but this one is probably a little TOO short, especially considering there’s another album on the way this autumn (This is considered part one of a double album of sorts). At 36 minutes including an intro track, people will assume it’s a cash grab if you don’t fill up the disc.

As well, while I have always enjoyed that just as many System songs make absolutely no sense as there are ones that make a statement, the lyrics for this album are a little too repetitive on a few songs, particularly “Old School Hollywood”, which is a more experimental song by SOAD standards, and would have been helped by some more lyrical content, considering the structure of that song is more standard verse/chorus/verse than a lot of the rest of the album.

Overall, this is an intense and very cool disc that will appeal to a broad set of ages and music fans, at least the ones who can get over that they might be perceived as some mook rocker by a snooty indie record store clerk or one of the Metal Maniacs subscribers who paint their faces and wear 10 inch spikes on their boots. Specifically, I see this album’s future as being considered a classic’ by the current crop of teenagers, much as we 20somethings hold dearly to old alternative records that might may or may not be as good as we’d remembered. — Goon

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