Admittedly I had my doubts about this album. With “System of a Down” descending into yet more gimmickry with their un-remarkable bits-and-bobs LP “Steal This Album” – and not to mention my tastes developing dramatically since my days as an avid fan of the band – I really didn’t expect to be finding anything of interest here.
Well it’s humble pie time. In a nutshell, this album is infectious as a confined-space party of SARS victims! The heaviness and intensity of older releases is now long gone – instead it is replaced with a crazed, eclectic mix of random, catchy, schizophrenic sing along anthems. Much media promotion regarding the band’s “dramatic” change of direction however is as usual somewhat misleading – this is still in essence typical System, just dare I say it – more accessible. And more fun! Usually I would be the first to balk at music purely on the basis of it having a wider appeal - but I think on this occasion it becomes a benefit to the music.
“BYOB” opens the album with particular intensity, mixing super fast guitar work reminiscent of early Maiden material, jumping to a pop chorus, and sporadically interspersed with bouts of extremely loud shouting accompanied by walls of guitar noise. The military march of the excellent “Revenga” (with yet another sing along chorus) follows neatly afterwards before the heaviest song on the album, the somewhat irritating “Cigaro” – seemingly a song about the band’s penises.
After the mildly repetitive “Radio/Video” things start to get interesting again with a heady dose of insanity “This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song”. I won’t even pretend to try and understand what this song is about, perhaps that’s the whole point, but it’s really the only time that Serj gets to shine vocally, and also gets full points for a chorus featuring the lyrics “Gonnoreah Gorgonzola”. Album highlight “Violent Pornography” is also a delight – who would have thought the sing-along hit of the summer would have people singing the words “Violent Pornography, Choking Chicks and Sodomy” all over UK nightclubs. “Sad Statue” pummels the listener with some of the heaviest guitar work on the album, whilst having a rather poignant and humbling chorus – something that works particularly well. This song is one of only a couple of “political” songs on Mesmerize – this side of SOAD has been kept to a minimum.
The closing songs for the album “Old School Hollywood” and “Lost in Hollywood” are the only two that could be labelled “dramatically”different to older material. “Old School” is a belter of a number - mixing a “clap-along” 60’s vibe with an insane guitar driven version of “Mr Roboto”, whilst “Lost” is an attempt at the “slow poignant” album ending – which tries its best, but perhaps doesn’t really hit the mark.
Singing duties are shared equally on this album between Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian, and while this adds a new angle to the band with dual vocals, I can’t help think that Serj is a little wasted on this album – it would have been nice to hear a few more of his “quirks” and less of Daron’s nasally whine. A minor quibble of course. One thing in favour of “Mesmerize” is the band’s decision to ditch a lot of the political propaganda – the album is far more light relief – and thankfully, unlike Korn, SOAD have perhaps realised that a bunch of 30-something millionaires don’t really ring true when screaming about American corruption and materialism - when they themselves are living the Hollywood dream.
System of A Down are pretty much a “Marmite” band. People know by now whether they love or hate them. This album will most probably cement either view – but you may well be surprised - and find something here you didn’t expect to like at all. It’s certainly rekindled my interest in a band I had no longer any desire to listen to, and I await the follow up “Hypnotise” to see if they can actually manage another solid release.
Standout Tracks: Old School Hollywood, Violent Pornography, Revenga.
Overall Score: 7 /10
