### System Of A Down: Mezmerize

#### 19/11/10 || Altmer

Is this the best album System of a Down ever did? Many will argue that I am wrong. “Toxicity” is. Yeah, and my foreskin just reinvented napalm. Fucking BURN, motherfuckers. But I am here to tell you that you should all be burned with napalm from my foreskin if you disagree with me. This album is the best System of a Down album.

And yes, that means I implied they were actually good. Live with it, bitch. Especially that Sammath guy, hahahaha… I love you, man. I love System of a Down. And I am the least trve kvlt dess metal motherfvcker on the site anyway, and I know it.

I have a reason for liking this shit though. You see, in the realm of half-metal, it’s all about whether you have a set of songwriters behind you that can write songs that are both catchy and interesting. Most of the bands here have neither. Disturbed? Gets old after one album, and have a monkey on vocals. Drowning Pool? I wish their fucken bodies would hit the floor. Godsmack? If you get happy from listening to Alice in Chains C-sides. Or D-sides. Or E-sides. System of a Down have…the bastard child of polka, Frank Zappa, Slayer, and… reggae? Holy fuck. Their songwriting is very interesting, actually.

You see, among the down-tuned choppy low-string riffs these guys love and do so well, they feature lots of time changes on a dime (“This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song”), they manage to implement R&B breaks (“B.Y.O.B.”), spout dadaist nonsense (“Cocaine”, “Cigaro”) and dance almost ska-reggae style (“Radio/Video”). You don’t see that on one album very often. Grooving, catchy insanity with completely left-of-center ideas and a vocalist with a range the size of the distance between the Earth and Betelgeuse? I don’t care how fucking soft or heavy it is, sign me right up HERE. That is what these guys have to offer.

There are two minor drawbacks to this album, and those are the following: a) Daron sings, and b) the last song is a bit of an irritating whinefest. The first involves the guitarist singing, but he sounds whiny, emo, nasal, drawling, irritating, and fucked up. Because he harmonizes well with Serj, and their constant vocal antics and interplay form a huge part of the songs, they make it work, incredibly enough, but where he takes lead vocals… no thanx. He doesn’t sing well and I rather have Serj do it. The last song features more of Daron’s vocals and the result, is, predictable, a slow whinefest which fits the continuity, but also grates on the ears.

Melodic, heavy, grooving songs with a pure sense of originality is what these guys offer, in a consistent, 35 minute package. I was hooked five years ago and I can still listen to this album without qualms, without nostalgia even. It fucken rules as hard as it did 5 years back. This one stood the test of time majestically.

Recommendation: Let Daron sing less.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Columbia
- Website: www.systemofadown.com
- Band
- Serj Tankian: vocals
- Daron Malakian: guitars
- Shavo Odadjian: bass
- John Dolmayan: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Soldier Side / Intro
- 02. B.Y.O.B.
- 03. Revenga
- 04. Cigaro
- 05. Radio/Video
- 06. This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song
- 07. Violent Pornography
- 08. Question!
- 09. Sad Statue
- 10. Old School Hollywood
- 11. Lost In Hollywood