It IS about writing a letter to a friend who has moved to hollywood Daron said so in an interview.

Oh god!!!!
I finally looked at that...monstrosity on top of Daron's head.
MY EYES!!!! THEY BURN!!!!
But I read the lyrics and there is no question cause he says:
[I][U]I wrote you,[/U] and told you
Those vicious streets are filled with strays[/I]

According to bassist Shavo Odadjian, System of a Down had planned to open Hypnotize — the second half of the band's Mezmerize/ Hypnotize double LP — with the sweeping instrumental "Hezze." Instead, the track was dropped

"We wanted to start off really heavy," Odadjian said. And as System's fans will learn on November 22, when the 12-track/40-minute album hits stores, "Attack" fulfills that mission admirably, with speed-metal blast beats and brutal, start-stop riffage that raise System to new levels of heaviness (see "System Of A Down Album Preview: Band Pulls No Punches With The Pummeling Mezmerize" and "System Of A Down Kick Out The Jams On Hypnotize").

There are numerous similarities between the two albums: Both are rife with tandem vocals from frontman Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian, as well as unconventional and drastic time changes, blistering guitar sections interspersed with placid moments, and tracks that blend seamlessly into one another. But Hypnotize, taken as a whole, is a more thunderous and mystifying LP.

The mind-pulverizing racket of the album's second cut, "Dreaming," is highlighted by Malakian's crisp vocals, which dispense bizarre lyrics like, "For treated indigenously, digenously/ Human right is private blue chip, pry." Simultaneously, Tankian's frenzied voice rattles off lyrics at breakneck speed: "We're the prophetic generation of bottled water, bottled water/ Causing poor populations to die, to die, to die."

Malakian is the star of "Kill Rock 'n Roll," on which he proclaims, "I felt like the biggest a--hole/ When I killed your rock 'n roll," with an almost Bon Scott delivery. The song, which the band has been playing live for months, eventually morphs from jarring, start-stop rhythms into minimal guitars and neo-funk drumming (see "System Of A Down 'Kill Rock 'N' Roll' With Volta In SoCal"). Next up is "Hypnotize," the album's first single, which features Middle Eastern-tinged guitars and keen lyricism: "Why don't you ask the kids at Tiananmen Square/ Was fashion the reason why they were there?"

"Stealing Society" kicks off its fervent tempo with a bassline that sounds co-opted from the Descendents and follows with fierce drumming, frantic guitar abuse and breakdowns galore. "Vicinity of Obscenity" finds Tankian repetitively speed-belting some characteristically nonsensical lyrics — "Banana, banana, banana, terra cotta/ Banana, banana, banana, terra cotta pie" — before the track wanders into disco lunacy, with Serj crooning, "Do we all learn defeat/ From the whores with bad feet?"

The convulsive, fast-paced "Tentative" features an electric cello toward the end, capping off three minutes of spastic vocals and crushing bass hooks. The gentle guitars featured in the triumphant "U-Fig" — which are sandwiched between ferocious riffs — recall Red Hot Chili Peppers axeman John Frusciante's solo strumming. "Holy Mountains," which showcases Tankian and Malakian's powerful harmonies, pummels the listener with bruising drums and guitar licks, but then softens the blow with delicate violins and orchestration.

Malakian handles the bulk of the vocals on "Lonely Day," with Tankian surfacing for the track's harmonized choruses; the tune's complex, intricate riffs leave one wondering just how System are going to replicate it live. Violins are employed once again during Hypnotize's closer, the politically charged "Soldier Side," which completes "Soldier Side (Intro)," Mezmerize's opening track. "They were crying when their sons left/ God is wearing black," Tankian wails. "He's gone so far to find no hope/ He's never coming back."

Hypnotize will be released as both a CD and a DualDisc, with the latter containing behind-the-scenes footage shot during the making of both records.

For more on System of a Down's double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize, check out the feature "Doubleheader." Look at next post.

— Chris Harris

"Doubleheader"

It was the 45th annual Hollywood Stars game at Dodger Stadium, and System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian felt as out of place as he looked in his oversized uniform.

Tony Danza, David Arquette and Norm MacDonald were among those gathered on the field, schmoozing with the media, signing autographs for the Dodgers players and, for the most part, ignoring the only legitimate rock star there (sorry, Frankie Avalon).

Daron at The Hollywood Stars baseball game


"That whole day was very strange for me because I went there just being a guy not taking it so seriously," Malakian recalls on a recent Friday night in the studio, where he's back in the metal band uniform of black T-shirt, black leather jacket and black jeans. "I just wanted to get a shot at hitting the ball, to just be at Dodger Stadium on the field because I'm a sports fan, but everyone else there were wearing cups and they were all in uniform and there was a coach on the team. I was really uncomfortable that day, to be honest with you."

That night, after doing an interview with the one reporter who recognized him, Malakian went home and wrote "Old School Hollywood," one of the most irate yet oddly comical tracks on System of a Down's new double album, Mezmerize/Hypnotize.

"That's just what happens to me when I go through some kind of traumatic experience," he says, laughing as he shoots a look at his longtime publicist, who arranged the game. "In her defense, I wanted to do it, but I didn't know what I was getting into. I would never do it again."

Since System of a Down were last in the studio, sessions that produced both the landmark Toxicity and Steal This Album!, Malakian's life has been marked by traumatic experiences, mainly America's invasion of Iraq, where several of his relatives live, and the government's ongoing refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide. Both were fuel for Mezmerize/Hypnotize.

"I was going through a tougher time ... But having some turmoil usually brings out the best in you, artistically."
— Daron Malakian


"There is a lot of emotion that I spilled out, and I am very lucky to have that outlet in music," says Malakian, who wrote the music and most of the lyrics for the new material. "Maybe that's why I wrote more lyrics, 'cause I was going through a tougher time and I think that everybody in the band understood that and understood that I wanted to express that. We're not one kind of band. I can't say we're just political. Lyrics run into so many different things. But having some turmoil usually brings out the best in you, artistically."
The war and the Armenian genocide (in which the Ottoman Turks killed as many as 1.5 million Armenians between 1895 and 1915) as well as homelessness and the other passions of singer Serj Tankian's Axis of Justice political-action network (which he formed with Audioslave's Tom Morello), have been the focus of several emotional, sometimes tearful System interviews with MTV News over the past few years. This is the first time since the "Aerials" video shoot that they've sat down to discuss solely music, and while there's a definite excitement in the air as they play back a few tracks, the traumatic experiences are not exactly history.

"We have a very personal approach to politics, or political approach to personal things, whichever one you want to say."
— Serj Tankian


"I feel like this record is really balanced in a lot of ways with thoughts, with ideas, with music, and in terms of social or political [topics] or anything like that," reflects Tankian, still in the pinstripe sport coat he donned for a photo shoot earlier. "I think one thing we were realizing doing a bunch of interviews together is that we have a very personal approach to politics, or political approach to personal things, whichever one you want to say. And there is something that we do with that that somehow it grabs people. I think it has to do with that we take things on a very personal level. [For example,] like 'Hypnotize,' one of the verses will talk about, let's say Tiananmen Square [where Chinese students held pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989], and then you get into 'I'm just sitting in my car.' It's very personal."

"Hypnotize," like some of System's most memorable songs, finds Serj and Daron singing the same simple line ("I'm just sitting in my car/ Waiting for my girl") over and over, but the music and the way it's sung keep it from sounding repetitive. The song's two verses, although only four lines each, inspired the titles of the double album (Mezmerize is due May 17th, followed six months later by Hypnotize, because "people don't have the attention span to listen to two albums at one time," Malakian says, "and the songs need space for digesting").

"They disguise it, hypnotize it/ Television made you buy it," Malakian sings in the opening verse. "Mesmerize the simple-minded/ Propaganda leaves us blinded," he sings later.

"It's a reflection of what I see in a crazy snowballing world of people walking around like zombies," Malakian explains. "We are condemned for things, and then we're sold the same things that we're condemned for. Like, they say, 'Child molestation is bad,' but Calvin Klein goes and signs a 13-year-old model and spreads her legs [in an advertisement]."

Of course, the title "Hypnotize" and the track itself — and in fact all of System's music — is open to and meant for interpretation. Malakian and Tankian are adamant that no System song is about one thing.

"Cigaro"


Malakian on "Cigaro"


Take, for instance, "Cigaro," an untamed tiger of a track that was leaked on the Internet last month and became an instant hit on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. The song begins and ends with the line "My c--- is much bigger than yours" and has Tankian blurting out the chorus "Cool, in denial/ We're the cruel regulators smoking cigaro."

"We've talked about it being a political song, we've talked about it being a song about ego, we just recently spoke about it as [being about] not having balls enough to have a sex change," Malakian says. "It's all over the board. And System of a Down will always be all over the board in my opinion. ... When you're shooting out art and you aren't blocking yourself and you aren't censoring yourself, you're going to shoot out a lot of different sides of yourself that you usually block. I believe in just doing natural mutations of something, like giving birth to something, not thinking about it before or after, just doing it."

System apply the same approach to their music, only amended to suit their perfectionism.

"The motto of this band from day one is that no idea is a bad idea until it doesn't work," Malakian says as Tankian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan nod in accord. "Some things end up working our way and some things don't, but if you don't try it, then you never know. Just keep the flow going. Let's try to come across new things. Let's try to impress ourselves before we can impress anyone else."

As System of a Down have matured as musicians, one of music's most experimental bands has only gotten more willing to try new things, especially Malakian. One night while working on the new album and struggling to get the exact guitar sound swimming in his head, he brought in every guitar in producer (or "song doctor," as the band calls him) Rick Rubin's home studio and mounted them on the wall. Daron pointed his amplifiers at the guitars and started playing, with the vibrations off the guitar strings creating a one-of-a-kind sound.

Oftentimes during the writing and recording sessions, Malakian would call one of his bandmates, play him a song from another band over the phone and say, "That's how I want [insert instrument] to sound on [insert song]." But don't think that sort of behavior makes it OK to call System a technical band.

"We're very misunderstood about being technical, and we're not," Malakian explains. "We're trying to get the right vibe from that snare. We aren't trying to say, 'Add this frequency to that frequency.' It's not a math project, it's more the feeling that you get when you hear the snare or any other instrument that we've thrown onto the record. It's just walking in and knowing what you want."

"No idea is a bad idea until it doesn't work"
— Daron Malakian


It's clear after talking about Mezmerize/Hypnotize for a while that it's Malakian's baby. The guitarist produced the album with Rubin and sings lead vocals on several tracks. While this might cause friction with a less secure band, it's a non-issue for System.

"If the song doesn't call for my voice then I'll shut up," Malakian says. "If it calls for my voice, then I'll sing it. Me and Serj both believe that it's always what's best for the song as vocalists, and that's the mentality as a whole band. John doesn't try to overplay something, even though he can. He really plays solid for the song. We all play it for the song."

"And we're getting better at articulating what the other person is gonna do," Dolmayan adds. "All the years of touring have definitely helped with that. We are more in contact with each other's souls when it comes to playing."

Malakian, ever the sports fan, likens the band to a basketball team.

"You might have four or five or six star players on your team, but if they don't pass the ball to each other, then they aren't going to win," he says. "I've seen great teams who have big rosters, payrolls and stuff, but they can't get along with each other, they have egos, attitudes, whatever, and no one passes and they don't win. You know what team wins? That team of rookies that are hungry."

— by Corey Moss

kool...

I agree...

i scrolled through it fast. are those the meanings of the songs or something.?

Thast quite old news... But thanks anyway :Thumb:

Do any of you think that the song 'Hypnotize' is a bit disapointing?

I most certainly do, really average.

[QUOTE=Kyle]I most certainly do, really average.[/QUOTE]

It thought it was really poor, and boring.

Does anyone know where i could stream it from (not illegally) cause I'd like to hear it for myself.

[QUOTE=Chris]Do any of you think that the song 'Hypnotize' is a bit disapointing?[/QUOTE]
lot more melodic then some of the songs on mezmorize , hopefully all the songs on hypnotize wont be as melodic

[QUOTE=6stringslinger]the second half of the band's Mezmerize/ Hypnotize double LP — with the sweeping instrumental "Hezze." Instead, the track was dropped[/QUOTE]
WTF??? I was really excited to hear that song.:angry: Well, SOAD just can't stop disapointing me.

[QUOTE=6stringslinger]Oftentimes during the writing and recording sessions, Malakian would call one of his bandmates, play him a song from another band over the phone and say, "That's how I want [insert instrument] to sound on [insert song]." But don't think that sort of behavior makes it OK to call System a technical band.[/QUOTE]
Note to Daron: YOU AREN'T IN CONTROL OF THE BAND!!!!

[QUOTE=i_like_metal]Note to Daron: YOU AREN'T IN CONTROL OF THE BAND!!!![/QUOTE]

he sounds pretty in control to me, and the other band members dont really seem to care.

mmmmm hmmmm

WEll i want to know if anybody knows the name of their old bassist back when they were called soil.

They didnt have a bassist it was just Serj and Daron.

They had an old drummer called Andy K (f[i]u[/i]ck knows how to spell his last name) though :thumb:

When SoaD was soil, haow many albums did they have?

[QUOTE=Ninja Bass Man]When SoaD was soil, haow many albums did they have?[/QUOTE]
They didn't release an album when they were Soil.

so, any songs? anything?

[QUOTE=Ninja Bass Man]so, any songs? anything?[/QUOTE]
Not that I am aware of but they probably did record some songs while being Soil.

I heard on Soadfans.com that They had an old bassist but he Commited suicide and Thats where they came up with the song soil because he couldn't handle his life.
Thats where i heard it, but i don't know......

woah... thats not cool....

[QUOTE=Ninja Bass Man]Does anyone know where i could stream it from (not illegally) cause I'd like to hear it for myself.[/QUOTE]
The full song is on the official site.

OH!! Thats a duh on my part! I heard it the other day while visiting the site!!
(OR at least I'm pretty sure i heard it, you mean on the track list, right?)If that is the right song, should REALLY take ridalin or some thing.
I didn't treally like the song much. But it's by SoaD, so I give it some kudos.

lol. yeah everyone should haha

Soil didnt release any albums etc the only thing that exists of there stuff is a jam session but good luck in finding that :thumb:

I'm pretty sure when soad was soil there songs were outer space, soil, and friik! or blue i think. and there was one more.. i forget. suggestions i think. if you go to some unnoficial soad site(i forgot what it was called) you can take a quiz on soad and it has some interesing stuff that most people dont know about the band.. and thats something i found out.

Whens Hypnotize out ?

november 22nd. duh.. the same day as xbox 360.. woot!

[QUOTE=+zero+]I'm pretty sure when soad was soil there songs were outer space, soil, and friik! or blue i think. and there was one more.. i forget. suggestions i think. if you go to some unnoficial soad site(i forgot what it was called) you can take a quiz on soad and it has some interesing stuff that most people dont know about the band.. and thats something i found out.[/QUOTE]

Outerspace is from the Toxicity / STA sessions
Blue and Friik are from somewhere between '95 and '97
And soil is from one of the '97 demo tapes.




Just ordered Hypnotize on pre-order from systemofadown.com :thumb:

outer space is old tho.. are you sure your not thinking of cherry(virginity)?

No, its from the toxicity sessions and its real name is actually Forever :thumb:

New S.O.A.D Album
 

are S.O.A.D releasing a new album becuase on the Kerrang they said they have a new album out soon called phscho, or something. Does anyone know what it is called? i thought it is was bloody quick another album in 1 year!

I think its called Hypnotize.

thats the one i was impressed 2 albums in about 8 months i think

Well, the more albums they release, the more money they make, and we all know that's the only thing they think of.

lol, has any heard any clips of the album if you have is it any good?

*snickers*