Review Summary: All in all, not as original or catchy as Toxicity or STA!, but still very well thought out and catchy enough to listen to it and still get something out of it.
System of a Down. Probably the most original and creative band on the planet. Releasing hit singles and albums that many have come to love, SOAD released the dual CD effort
Mezmerize/Hypnotize, and it explained most of their war views, as much as their albums do. SOAD has become mixed in the much hated genre of nu-metal, and the only thing that is technically nu-metal is Darron’s guitar playing. Darron has become one of his own, and SOAD is moving more towards the straightforward, in your face rock. When somebody like myself loves to listen to SOAD’s music, I just want to rock. I will tell you that they do just that. They can be as crazy as hell, but can still be listenable and have a point. Serj does some great singing on his music. I believe that he was an opera singer, as well, so that accounts for the amazing vocal work. The only thing that I am mad about on this album was how much singing they gave to Darron. He is an excellent guitar player, but he should just stick to that.
SOAD is, again known for their crazy, fast, yet listenable riffs. The first two songs are a great example of how SOAD can be very fast moving, and without changing the beat, be a more melodic rock band. These songs,
Attack and
Dreaming, start this album right where
Mezmerize left off, having only been released a half a year later. Dreaming is one of my personal favorites on the album, and almost everything about it is perfect. The lyrics are about selfishness, and could also be talking about war.
The two singles from the album,
Hypnotize and
Lonely Day are somewhat of a low point on the album. Hypnotize is the better of the two, as the beginning guitar riff gets stuck in your head really easily. The lyrics are definitely about the media getting the normal groups of society to follow them by all means possible. Lonely Day is just not working out here. Kind of rebellious song, and not a good choice for a single, although it is getting them some mainstream success. Darron does an ok job singing on this song, but if Serj would have sung this, it probably would have been much better.
One thing I like about SOAD’s music, there aren’t that many ballads, but when there are, holy **** they are good. The two ballads on here are
Holy Mountains and
Soldier Side. Holy Mountains is about Armenian Genocide, a holy war, and how SOAD deals with it. It is something along that line. Definitely one of SOAD’s best in a LONG time. The guitar isn’t spectacular, but is very complex and technical. The drums and bass all do their part. The best part to me is the way Serj sings in this song. It is the best song on the album in my book. If you remembered the intro song from Mezmerize, this is the concluding song that everyone has been waiting for. It is kind of short, but a great closer for the album, especially coming right after Lonely Day, which was bad in almost every way possible. The message is very good, as it is about the war situation, and what they think. It is about a soldier having no hope when he goes to war, only because the war is pointless. The instrumentation gets their job done nicely, but I think that they sang it better on Mezmerzie, but still good, nonetheless.
There are always one or two songs on SOAD’s albums that make you go “What the ****?” On here, those two creative, and one being annoying, songs are
Vicinity of Obscenity and
She’s Like Heroin. I like VoO because it is pointless. Some say that it is related to sex. You could just sing along where ever you are, because it is damn catchy, and it has no real point to me. She’s Like Heroine, is exactly like lonely day. I don’t know if this was intended to be funny, but it didn’t work out all that well for me. There are better songs on the album.
After releasing their B-Sides CD (Steal This Album), SOAD hadn’t written for a while, when the Mezmerize/Hypnotize thing came out, I was wondering if it was going to be very good. It is more thought out, but still very original and fun to listen to. If you are looking for a band that has good meanings in their songs, SOAD is the place to find it, because they let people know exactly what they feel. Hypnotize is a very good effort, and is a great listen to, especially after you have heard Mezmerize.
Recommended Songs
Attack
Dreaming
Hypnotize
Holy Mountains
Soldier Slide
