System Of A Down
Hypnotize

THE REVIEW

After "Mezmerize", S.O.A.D. decided to astonish us with another masterpiece, "Hypnotize", which, combined with the previous one, would be a double CD, "Confuse" (Mezmerize) and "Hypnotize". This new album which, as the title says, was supposed to hypnotize us, I believe partially succeeded.

The album opens with "Attack", a song that more or less resumes the style of "Prison Song" from Toxicity, with slightly tedious repetitions and unoriginal choruses. However, this song manages to immerse us in the atmosphere of the 11 songs that will follow. "Dreaming", the second track, is a very hard song, very similar to "Cigaro" from Mezmerize, with numerous and electrifying chants alternating to create a smooth atmosphere, especially towards the middle of the song when the hard electric guitar riffs give way to Daron's melodious voice, which elevates the notes to a sublime atmosphere, almost like Serj did in "Chop Suey!" when he sang "i, cry, when angels deserve to die".

"Kill Rock 'N' Roll", a song that honestly did not excite me much, despite being very catchy and melodic, yet not very original. "Hypnotize", which gives the album its name, proves to be worthy of being one of the chosen ones, it's not very hard in sound, sung beautifully and perfectly fits within its context, exceeding all expectations, and it had to be released as the first single of the CD. "Stealing Society" is one of the worst songs on this Album, similar to "Attack", the same observations made for the latter apply here as well. "Tentative", which at first might seem quite boring, becomes more and more beautiful as the seconds of the player advance, reaching perfection in the last minute where the atmosphere calms down, echoing the style of "Dreaming".

"U-Fig" opens in perfection and closes in absolute perfection, sung entirely by Serj with Daron accompanying in the chorus, this strong melody is absolutely spot on in every way. "Holy Mountains" is perhaps the most beautiful of the Album, fully recapturing the style of the dear old Systems of "Toxicity" with strong drumbeats and bursts of guitar that transform everything into sound, even the blow of a hammer heard outside your room; this should have, in my opinion, been released as a single, absolutely. Number 9, "Vicinity Of Obscenity", tasty and too, absolutely too commercial; there isn't much to describe since the song is always the same, as is the one that follows, "She's Like Heroin", entirely banal and purposeless.

And here we come to the two masterpieces of this album, Number 11, "Lonely Day", if this isn't one of the best songs by System tomorrow I'll change my name to ASDRUBALEVERCINGETORIGE, "Lonely Day" is a calm song, as calm as S.O.A.D. can make a song, sung entirely by Daron, with Serj playing the acoustic guitar here; celestial, ferocious, magnificent melody, P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Nothing more to say.

"Soldier Side", which we have already had the opportunity to be introduced to in the intro of Mezmerize, is one of the favorites to become a legend, if I had to make a mix with the best System songs, this would definitely be included, without a second thought, "welcome to the soldier side where there's no one here but me, people all grow up to die, there is no one here but me".

Buy this album, it's worth it.