Mezmerize / Hypnotize

In the past six months, System of a Down have doubled their album output: In May, the critically successful quartet delivered Mezmerize, an 11-song, 36-minute blast of hyper-aggressive riffing, breakneck rhythm shifts, and Middle Eastern accented melodies. Six months later, they're offering the second side of the album, Hypnotize, which is meant as a companion piece; Mezmerize's "Soldier Side Intro" begins what Hypnotize's "Soldier Side" ends 23 songs later.

System of a Down have always evoked strong love/hate feelings from listeners. They ride the line separating thrash metal and more radio-friendly fare, with some hardcore metal fans believing the band isn't metal enough, and fans of more straightforward alterna-metal finding them too leftfield. The band's oddball characteristics are even more upfront on Mezmerize, with the group shifting styles unexpectedly and incorporated more non-Western sounds than ever before.

The songs generally gravitate toward one of two extremes-- rapid-fire, full throttle thrash songs, such as Mezmerize's "Cigaro" and Hypnotize's "Attack" and "Dreaming", or slow, heavy songs like Hypnotize's title track and "Holy Mountain". Mezmerize's strongest moments are when the band drops the eccentricities and just rocks out: On the two-minute "Cigaro", Serj Tankian's dominating vocals go from growl to howl while the band thrashes along behind him, and single "Question!" morphs from whispery and acoustic to loping and menacing.

For the most part, the same holds true on Hypnotize, with musical mannerisms working best when they're accenting songs rather than controlling them. As the less ambitious of the two albums, Hypnotize is at once more aggressive and more restrained. "Dreaming", one of the strongest tracks from either album, builds layers of vocals, varying rhythms, and harmonies over blast- beat drums. Later, on "Holy Mountain", the band syncs up, firing every beat, every stroke, and every syllable together, punching their way through the track.

The biggest problem on both of these albums is the increased vocal presence of guitarist/primary songwriter Daron Malakian. On the band's second album, 2001's Toxicity, Malakian's voice was a welcome accent to front man Serj Tankian's commanding, operatic howls and barks. But now, Malakian sings on every song, in some cases as the lead vocalist. Tankian's voice has always been one of the most unique aspects of the band, and to hear him step aside for Malakian's whiny, nasally drawl is a disappointment. The fact that his voice is generally clear and easy to understand only accentuates an underlying problem that has haunted the band from day one: terrible lyrics.

At some point, the words just become unintentional comedy. At their best, they're nonsensical and garbled; at their worst, they're full of forced rhymes, juvenile shock tactics, and failed intellectualisms. Mezmerize give us "B.Y.O.B.", with lines like "Why don't presidents fight the war?" Later we get "Violent Pornography", which sidesteps actually attacking the degrading of women for lines like, "It's a violent pornography/ Chocking chicks and sodomy/ The kind of shit you get on your TV." Hypnotize is no better. On the plaintive ballad "Lonely Day", Malakian croons, "The most loneliest day of my life/ Such a lonely day/ Should be banned/ It's a day that I can't stand." He never reveals what this day is, but my theory is that it's when he got a failing grade on his 9th grade poetry project.

As with any double album, the question inevitably arises as to whether or not this could've been pared down to a single. Admittedly, there are a few tracks that just don't work. Mezmerize could do without "Old School Hollywood" (a failed attempt at new wave, with confounding lyrics about a celebrity baseball game) and "Violent Pornography", while the only real blunder on Hypnotize is the simplistic "U-Fig", which is far too repetitive in the verses, and never quite takes off. So, while these albums aren't likely to change the mind of dissenters, the band's voice remains ferocious and unique, even if what they're actually saying isn't necessarily worth hearing.