Maximum Metal Rating Legend

System Of A Down - Mesmerize - 5/17/2005 - American REcords

Track Listing1. 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

The newest release by System Of A Down is quite impressive. You might be asking how much so well for starters I was never more than a casual fan of this band. I found some stuff just OK to me, never appealed or really enjoyed the earlier releases. However once I placed "Mesmerize” in the CD player I was floored by the production and delivery of the piece. As a matter of fact I am on listen three and am clearly heading for listen four. Overall this piece is explosive Metal and is also a lot of fun to listen to. The piece begins with a slow harmony laden “Soldier Side”, and once “B.Y.O.B.” kicks in your head will be banging. There are a lot of expletives in the CD, and while I am not a fan of censoring music or Artists I do think younger listeners should run this one by their folks first.

My favored tracks are clearly not radio material and I will be honest with you conventional radio no longer matters to me. I feel with Satellite, Internet and Cable radio feeds that play Metal music and don’t edit or bleep certain aspects of the track will help to keep this piece in the public eye. “Cigaro” is an interesting piece that shows how powerful the musicianship is in SOAD. Beginning like a Death Metal song it jumps into a totally different feel with some terribly funny lines. I laughed out loud when it ran. “Violent Pornography” is similar in its suggestive content but shows a side of these players that prove not only are they skilled but also capable of delivering humor in their content. You might hear “B.Y.O.B.” on the radio but it will get bleeped. Tracks like “Sad Statue” and “Radio/Video” are more “Air-Friendly” and perhaps gain these guys some chart position.

Malakian, Tankian, Doadjian, and Dolmayan have succeeded in converting me to their sound. Many interesting vocal harmonies are present and while one review listed them as the heavy metal version of Queen, I tend to disagree on that. There is something special in the band and is easy to find with this CD. “Mesmerize” will have a companion piece released sometime at the end of the Summer showing that the group had enough material to give their fans as much as possible. I totally recommend this piece.

Rating: 4.5/5

--Ken Pierce 06.30.05

System of a Down - Mezmerize - 2005 - Sony

Track Listing1 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

From start to finish this album is faultless. This fourth release from the political misfits System of a Down covers everything you would expect from them. Those looking for any great change of direction or reinvention will be disappointed but for the hardcore SOAD fans, this is another release to give you the instant feeling of wanting to punch someone out wherever you may be listening to it.

I have heard a lot of people bitching about the fact that Daron (the
guitarist and normally back up vocals) is getting a lot of limelight on the
album singing as front man. Granted Serj can turn any lyric into gold, but
kudo's still need to be given where due, and Daron does a bloody stand up
job in adding a slightly different dimension in the harmony vocals almost
sounding slightly Robert Smith (The Cure) in some songs.

Stand out tunes for me where definitely Radio/Video, Violent Pornography and
Sad Statue. The lyrics are, as expected, very politically motivated but
even with the majority of us living outside of the US of A, SOAD still
convey their feelings of angst and frustration extremely well. "We'll all
go down in history with a sad statue of liberty" is not only a direct attack
at the current state of affairs in the US but also relays attitudes
currently felt around the world.

Of course in classic System style they switch in 10 seconds from something
as serious as the war to "My cock is much bigger then yours" which
immediately lightens the general mood of the album.

The thing I love about these albums are how they combine songs so well.
Each song leads on to the other with the perfect change in tempo and rhythm.
Serj has this undeniably brilliance to make his voice part of the musical
output. The timing of a scream, harmony or complete stop is sensational,
which really puts him on a pedestal as one of the worlds most complete
vocalists.

You will probably need to listen to the album three or four times before you
really "get it", but when you do you will realise that this simply one of
the greatest bands currently in existence today.

I don't exactly know what the second half of this compilation "Hypnotize" is
going to produce or what direction it will go in, but that's why we love
this band, they just keep us guessing.

--Neekoy