System of a Down

Mesmerize

(American / Columbia)

Record Review by Karen A. Mann

When “B.Y.O.B.” landed on the desks of radio and MTV as System of a Down’s new lead single, some faces must have fallen.  Couldn’t they just write something nice like “Aerials,” or at least something a little cryptic like “Chop Suey!”?  Instead, here’s this spittle-flying protest song that calls out the President and drops a ton of F-bombs.  It starts with a speed demon Maiden riff, then, to make it worse, prominently shows off the band’s new, two-sided vocal attack, a development that will confuse casual fans used only to Serj Tankian’s unmistakable cadence.      

Then something hilarious happens.  Tankian breaks into mock-operatic la-la-la’s and the band churns into a breezy summertime TRL riff with a chorus of “Everybody’s going to the party / have a real good time.”  You can almost hear the programmers and execs exhale and miss the point—this is more like it.  Then we’re back off to the races, screaming about Moses and Fort Knox and oil.  The song concludes with a furious refrain of “Where the fuck are you?” and “Why do they always send the poor?” 

When even the lead hit single is so maniacal, it bodes very well for the album, and Mezmerize doesn’t disappoint.  System of a Down sound very much in their comfort zone—which is to say “all over the place”—rampaging through state-of-the union rockers (“Sad Statue”), channeling “Hava Nagila” and Fiddler On The Roof (“Radio/Video”), and having a laugh at macho posturing (“Cigaro”) and celebrity functions (“Old School Hollywood”).  Ace guitarist/songwriter Daron Malakian’s increased presence as a vocalist leads to some thrilling interplay with Tankian.  Even when a component doesn’t work, there’s something completely different right around the corner, often within the same song. 

SOAD’s success is a feather in the cap for the much-maligned mainstream, who have helped snatch up nearly 10 million of the band’s records.  That’s an astounding number for a polarizing band that seems too unconventional for commercial radio, too melodic for metalheads, too clownish for the humorless, and much too forthright for the comfortably apathetic.  In an ideal world, there would be a John Hughes moral to impart on the industry here—we’re all brains and basket cases, etc.—but most bands just aren’t interested (or perhaps capable) of showing multiple facets.  In that regard, Mezmerize is a resounding success, turning “schizophrenic” and “Tourette’s-like” into music-crit compliments.  Producer Rick Rubin is high on hyperbole when he proclaims System “the only heavy band that matters,” but they are, without question, the only band of their kind, and Mezmerize is their best and fullest work to date.  Hopefully, though, it won’t even last the rest of 2005 before it’s dethroned.  The other half of the songs from these sessions, Hypnotize, is due out later in the year.