Almost four years after the release of their world-conquering Toxicity, the groundbreaking Armenican metallers have finally got round to unleashing the next phase of their musical quest. Part one of the meisterwerk, Mesmerize, hit the shelves in May while the second disc, Hypnotize, is only now seeing the light of day. The reason? Apparently, “attention spans aren’t what they used to be in the Too-much-information Age”. Nothing to do with another excuse for publicity, then.
Whatever the motive, artistic or commercial, it’s clear that System Of A Down haven’t mellowed with age – opener ‘Attack’ is an uncompromising burst of System at their most brutal, repeating the lyrics “We will attack/We will attack”. They clearly mean it. They’ve also refused to tone down the strong lyrical messages, despite one band member’s claim that being labelled a political band pisses him off, as title track ‘Hypnotize’ proves. A quieter moment musically, if there’s ever such a thing with System, lines like “Mesmerize the simple-minded/Propaganda leaves us blinded“ can only really be taken one way.
While there’s plenty of chin-stroking seriousness, the band do indulge their penchant for nonsense lyrics (although we’re sure “terracotta pie” and “bananas!” on ‘Vicinity of Obscenity’ are just bywords for something altogether more weighty).
All in all, the Mesmerize/Hypnotize duo represents something of a back-to-basics for System, with less of the sonic frivolity explored on Toxicity and more of the raw, ear-bashing ferocity as documented in their self-titled debut. That said, Hypnotize is probably the runt of the litter, the little sister to Mesmerize’s big brother, although still an utterly crucial purchase for any System fan.