System Of A Down

Hypnotize

[3/5] System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian recently told an interviewer that the purpose for releasing two new albums six months apart was to reconcile the band’s love for short records with the ADD inherent in contemporary culture (i.e., music fans). Tankian went on to say that both Mezmerize and the new Hypnotize are not concept albums, but rather separate playlists of songs, both of which offer a significant, unique listening experience.

These are key points to address in a record review, because they say more about culture imitating life than “art.” Over the course of four albums, System Of A Down have made great inroads within the framework of contemporary metal, doing much to escape many of the genre’s codified clichés (e.g., authority sucks; beer, boobies and big amps don’t). But familiarity breeds contempt, and a packaged double-disc set would probably just find Tankian running the carving station at the downloading buffet. On Hypnotize, Tankian and guitarist/chief songwriter Daron Malakian haven’t fixed what ain’t broke–the thing should just work. Which makes System the Dyson vacuum cleaner of modern metal.

Hypnotize starts out furiously enough with the double-time chugging of “Attack” making 60 percent of this year’s metalcore releases sound redundant. “Kill Rock ’N’ Roll” makes a commentary about the vacancy of current rock culture, albeit clumsily (see Soundgarden’s “Big Dumb Sex”). “Lonely Day” is the track that would curl your parents’ toes, touting a shred-tastic Malakian solo and a tempo that wouldn’t trigger cardiac arrhythmia (tell your friends in radio, if you’re vacant enough to have them). “Soldier Side” is probably the most poignant thing SOAD have committed to harddrive, an anti-war song that takes their fury down a thousand notches for maximum resonance. But much of Hypnotize rehashes Mezmerize’s messages and System’s well-utilized bag of tricks (Tankian’s Zappa-esque wordplay and gutter operatics; drummer John Dolmayan’s dramatic time shifts; Malakian’s clever-clever guitar flash). Hypnotize isn’t a radioactive pile of suck, but had the Down boys offered some genuine hairpin turns in their aesthetic (similar to the relationship between Radiohead’s OK Computer and Kid A), there might be more reason to pursue a more meaningful dialogue that transcends the tired notion of “System just being System.”

Imagine yourself home from work or school because you’re stricken with some debilitating flu. You’re suffering in bed with the television on, and you’ve lost the remote. There’s an old program on that you’ve never cared about, that you’ve only seen once in seven years. And you’re trapped watching that very same episode yet again. That’s what Hypnotize feels like. Hell, even the Apex Theory avoided that fate… (COLUMBIA) Jason Pettigrew



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