After the disappointing Mezmerize was released, I didn’t know what to think of System of a Down. Their music was obviously becoming rather dull, even though most of it is high paced, and frantic. There wasn’t anything really wrong with it; it was just average. It just couldn’t compare to the greatness of Toxicity. Only the songs
BYOB,
This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song, and
Revenga were really good, and stood out on Mezmerize. Now here we are with Hypnotize, the second half of the two-part album System of a Down released this year. There are plenty of good things to say about this album, but sadly some complaints do surface.
One of the things better about Hypnotize over Mezmerize is the fact that there aren’t as many silly songs on here. There are a few still, such as,
Vicinity of Obscenity and
Kill Rock N’ Roll, but the hidden meaning of the later song is talking about Daron’s regret ofrunning over a bunny; so in a way it isn’t really silly. A big problem with the album is Daron’s huge leap in the amount of vocals that he contributes. His voice at times is about as enjoyable as using chalk on a blackboard is, especially on
Kill Rock N’ Roll.
In some ways Hypnotize is the same as Mezmerize, but in other ways it isn’t all. Both albums feature horrible lyrics that at times you can’t even judge them because it’s virtually impossible to translate their meaning. As a certain user on Sputnik once said, “(The lyrics are) so full of bad metaphors that you can't judge them because you can't relate them to anything concrete.” This is certainly true most of the time. Something that is completely opposite of each album is that Hypnotize isn’t as “commercial” as Mezmerize was. While many songs could have been successful singles for Mezmerize; it’s hard to pick out what the next single will be for Hypnotize. All that can be said is that whatever song is chosen will be the opposite of the title-track, and first single as really it is just about the only completely “soft” song for the entire album.
The fifth, and sixth songs,
Stealing Society and
Tentative on Hypnotize are of the best quality musically, and vocally. The best song of the two is easily
Stealing Society. The guitar on the song is much like that of the rest of the album; fast paced, but also slightly melodic at the same time. The best part about
Stealing Society is Serj Tankian’s fantastic soothing vocal performance.
“Two skies, watching it all fading. Two skies, living it all fading”, is what Serj starts to sing at the beginning of the song along with a metal guitar riff reminiscent of something in between
BYOB, and
Question!. Daron’s singing on this isn’t too bad actually, and one can actually call it enjoyable. The part where he sings,
“Crack pipes, needles, PCP, and fast cars kind of mix really well in a dead movie star. If I feel like talking, I never be wrong, if I feel like walking, you best come along” is more or less the best vocal job he does on the whole album. The opening guitar riff on
Tentative is absolutely crazy, and amazing. It sounds much like the normal fast guitar of many songs on the album, but with a little bit of a zany touch to it. Serj’s singing in the opening is fast and frantic, which fits well with the opening guitar riff. This song is another political one, but the lyrics aren’t too bad on this song.
“The bombs are falling overhead with no sight, while you are talking all detached, so tell us. Where are you going to the bottom, to the bottom? Do you hear us? We are rotting.” The way the song will switch from heavy to slow fits well with the lyrics, making this a standout on the album. The worst song on the album is easily the second slowest of the album, but not for that reason.
Lonely Day is by far one of the worst songs that Daron has ever written. It starts out with an extremely simple guitar part that is something a person would learn in an early guitar lesson. The lyrics Daron writes are absolutely pitiful, and rhyme way too easily, leading to extreme corniness. At times the guitar will get a little better, and goes into a short, but fast Spanish-esque guitar solo. Happily it’s less than three minutes long, something way too common for this whole record.
If you love old System of a Down; you will love this. If you love Mezmerize, you will more than likely also love this. Hypnotize doesn’t seem to be as commercial as Mezmerize was, as many songs on there could easily become popular singles. The singing from Daron is just horrid, much like the lyrics. However, Serj does quite an excellent job on the record. His highlight performance is easily
Stealing Society, and
U-Fig. Both never get old vocally or musically. The bass seems to have no life for most of the album, but the drums are even better than they were on Mezmerize with some great fills, and accompany the guitar greatly. Most songs on the album are either a 3 or a 3.5, and only a few are average or below.
Stealing Society is a superb song.
Tentative,
Vicinity of Obscenity are also both excellent songs. This would have equaled out to a 3.5, but didn’t because Daron’s guitar riffs on many songs are starting to sound too samey. All in all, everything tends to balance out, but ends up weighing in a little over on the good side.
