Yeah, System of a Down has an imposing wall of guitar chords, punishing rhythms and screaming vocals, but its real power is in its songwriting – a meticulously crafted roller-coaster structure where every start and stop, every twist and turn, is placed for a purpose.
Singer-keyboardist Serj Tankian and singer-guitarist Daron Malakian have an impressive sense of knowing how far to push with their sonic attacks and how long the listener needs to regroup before they can start the ride again.
At their best, System of a Down songs are beautifully controlled chaos. And on “Mezmerize” (American/Columbia) – the first of its two new albums; (“Hypnotize” will follow in November) – the band is unstoppable.
Hear them live, along with The Mars Volta, on Wednesday night at KeyArena in Seattle.
The first single, “B.Y.O.B.,” shows how all of the band’s strengths work together – the raging speed metal verses about American involvement in Iraq, the catchy, the groovy chorus about trying to sell the war to new recruits as a desert keg party, and the powerful point-making bridge of “Why do they always send the poor?” It’s a heady mix about a heavy topic, but it’s also intoxicating.
Same goes for “Violent Pornography,” which brilliantly hammers the commercialization of sex in the rapid-fire verses, then explains it in a poppy, danceable chorus, and “This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m on This Song,” which is a blur of speeding images set to a stop-start guitar-metal backdrop.
System of a Down accomplishes all of this while staying true to its Eastern European roots and keeping its sense of humor, making “Mezmerize” one of the most inventive, unique albums in years.
System of a Down and The Mars Volta
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, KeyArena, $31.50-$44, at Ticketmaster, 206-628-0888, www.ticketmaster. com.
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