System Of A Down
Hypnotize

THE REVIEW

Six months after the bizarre "Mezmerize," System Of A Down gives birth to its twin "Hypnotize." The album in question is nothing more than the complementary part of its predecessor. The review could end here, since the two parts are equivalent and the sound has remained unchanged. The ingredients are the usual distorted guitars, alternating with oriental melodic parts and pieces of total schizophrenia. The voices of Tankian and Malakian blend fairly well and result as very (too much) catchy (commercial?). To be clear, this album is absolutely not to be discarded, but for those like me who loved the first work of S. O. A. D., which was a surprising expression of Crossover filled with ethnic sounds, everything will take on a bittersweet taste. My musical orientation and background lead me to consider it a "nice" album, cute, nothing more. The pop nuances make it ideal for parties, enjoyable for everyone, and good for jumping around drunk and making noise.

This was the summary, but since it's an album that just came out (actually not yet in stores), the classic track-by-track cannot be missed... It opens with the powerful riff of "Attack," followed by a drum break reminiscent of '80s Death Metal (wow!), catchy chorus, and classic relax pauses. One of the best episodes of the album. "Dreaming" is very nice with its very catchy chorus that clearly recalls "Forest" from "Toxicity" and the tight and crazy verses. It drops a bit in level with "Kill Rock 'n' Roll," which still remains a good expression of the new S. O. A. D. "Hypnotize" (title track) is the first single, commercial to the core, with the voices answering each other in a crescendo of tonality and a simple and banal melody, but as always catchy :). The level remains unchanged with "Stealing Society" and rises with the beautiful "Tentative." "U-Fig" is pure madness, while "Holy Mountains" is the best episode of the album, very "Aerials" and "Spiders" in style but feeling the new influences. It reaches the most "out of head" song of the album, "Vicinity Of Obscenity," a new "Cigaro" with a central break that completely disrupts it. "She's Like Heroin" is mainly sung by that sick Daron Malakian, like the following, the soft ballad "Lonely Day." The last song, which connects to the first track of "Mezmerize," is nothing else but "Soldier Side," of which we could appreciate the intro in the previous work.

Do you need to satisfy people with different musical tastes at your party? The advice is to put on the "Mezmerize - Hypnotize" pair and success will be guaranteed. A nice little album and that's it, pleasant to listen to when you want uncommitted music. Enjoy!!!