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Band leavens heavy metal sound with Armenian folk melodies |
Posted by JP on Sunday, August 28, 2005 - 12:13 AM
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The headliner of an arena rock concert almost always performs an encore, even if the building is half empty and the audience is diffident. But System of a Down, playing for a sold-out, enthusiastic crowd at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, Tuesday night, left the stage without one. AS USUAL
By this point in the evening, though, members of this Los Angeles-based quartet had made it clear that they weren't interested in following anyone else's rules.
Their songs often blended the raw power of heavy metal with melodies borrowed from Armenian folk music (all four members are Armenian-Americans). Serj Tankian, who sang lead on most songs (as well as playing keyboards and guitar at times), had a crazed glint in his eye, and tended to either bark out his lyrics or soar into quasi-operatic territory. Daron Malakian, who also sang lead occasionally, created an astonishing array of sounds with his guitar, while the rhythm section (bassist Shavo Odadjian, drummer John Dolmayan) cranked out machine-gun rhythms but also made tricky tempo shifts look easy.
They played hard enough to drive the moshers on the arena floor into a frenzy, though the lyrics tended to make political points.
"B.Y.O.B." was an anti-war song with a sarcastic twist: "Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time/Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine."
"Sad Statue" explored similar terrain, more directly: "You and me, we'll all go down in history with a sad Statue of Liberty, and a generation that didn't agree."
In "Prison Song," Tankian rapped, in a snide tone, "Minor drug offenders fill your prisons, you don't even flinch/All our taxes paying for your wars against the new non-rich."
System of a Down clearly has no use for show-business nonsense. Band members wore simple black outfits, and the stage was minimally adorned. The light show was nothing special. Basically, the only thing to look at was Malakian twirling around as he played, or Tankian occasionally breaking into a spastic dance.
This band seems to live in its own musical universe, so it came as a shock when Malakian demonstrated an interest in classic-rock by singing a bit of Neil Young's "My, My, Hey, Hey (Out of the Blue)" before "Kill Rock'n' Roll," a song that will be included on the band's November album, "Hypnotized" (the sister album to May's "Mezmerize"). Even more surprisingly, he sang some of Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" -- a very mellow tune, by System of a Down's standards -- before "Aerials," changing the line, "We are the sultans of swing," to "We are the System of a Down."
Songs from "Mezmerize" and the band's 2001 breakthrough album "Toxicity" dominated the set list, with "Toxicity" material like "Prison Song," "Aerials" and "Chop Suey!" making the biggest impact. System of a Down may never top that masterpiece, but 10 years after its formation, it hasn't sold out or softened up in any way.
Performing before System of a Down, the Mars Volta was just as uncompromising, but in a different way. The band, featuring former members of the garage-punk band At the Drive-In, rocked hard for much of the set, but sometimes seemed like a psychedelic jam band, intent on pursuing every possible musical tangent. Most songs had layers of keyboards and percussion; some took left turns with exploratory sax and flute solos. Lead singer Cedric Bixler Zavala howled like a young, thinner-voiced Robert Plant, but tended to be drowned out by his band's walls of sound.
Opening act Bad Acid Trip -- who happen to be signed to Tankian's record label, Serjical Strike -- lived up to their name thanks to Dirk Rogers' screamed, incomprehensible vocals, though sometimes Keith Aazami's snaky guitar lines did add a hint of originality.
BY JAY LUSTIG
Source: The Star-Ledger www.nj.com
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Comments
Theinfectedangel
28.08.05, 12:33
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thats system of a down for ya....
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whydotheyalwaysendthep00r
28.08.05, 17:17
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Mars Volta SUCKS!
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mac26
28.08.05, 17:25
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I went to the NJ show and it was amazing! They all played perfectly and Daron kept me laughing the whole night. Seeing Daron right in front of me from the left side of the floor made my night. *sigh* I thought his voice was great when he sang "Sultans Of Swing". I was the only person in my section of the floor who knew the words to "Kill Rock n' Roll". I didn't mind. Everyone was really nice and had so much energy. It was the best night of my life.
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renae
29.08.05, 15:16
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I thought the light show was amazing (especially during Mr. Jack), and that Serj moved pretty well.
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sruby87
30.08.05, 00:48
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I largely agree with the review of the show, with a few notable differences. Bad Acid Trip were possibly the worst live band ever to put on a show. The Mars Volta are an amazing live band, they had a bad sound techncian on the 23rd. I have seen them previously, and I can attest to their incredible live show (Roseland 5/5/05.) I enjoyed the light show put together by Shavo. Few recognized the two "covers," my friend and I felt like we were the only ones. The rest of the crowd looked befuddled. I feel like they (System) should have included more material from their self-titled debut and Steal This Album; instead they appealed to the masses with their commercial successes, Toxicity and the newest album, Mezmerize. I am looking forward to the next album, Hypnotize. I hear there is an instrumental, and that it is teh same one played at the show, I can't wait to hear it again!
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bring_your_own_bombs
30.08.05, 02:03
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""B.Y.O.B." was an anti-war song with a sarcastic twist: "Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time/Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine."" ""Sad Statue" explored similar terrain, more directly: "You and me, we'll all go down in history with a sad Statue of Liberty, and a generation that didn't agree."" "In "Prison Song," Tankian rapped, in a snide tone, "Minor drug offenders fill your prisons, you don't even flinch/All our taxes paying for your wars against the new non-rich."" thanks for telling us stuff we didnt already know.
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varuzhan
30.08.05, 03:55
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Im lovin these Armenian folk melodies !
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bringyourownbomb
31.08.05, 19:25
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he left out about the lights that they would make fuck you pig show up on a screen during mr jack
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Jesuscanfly
01.09.05, 22:02
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The Mars Volta are pretty good. I likes them so screw you.
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timmah1231
02.09.05, 00:01
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"The light show was nothing special."
Is he blind? I'd wet myself if I was confronted with pulling off a light show like that in front of a packed stadium.
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imyourbeauty89
07.09.05, 18:34
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ARMENIAN KICKS ASS!
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rafo
10.09.05, 07:52
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SOAD is the Armeni
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rafo
10.09.05, 07:53
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SOAD is the Armenian pride and will allways be !!
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Armenian_FreAk__xX
11.09.05, 09:10
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I LOVE SOAD & im proud to be Armenian =) <333!
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McBanjo
13.09.05, 12:35
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i made a school project of Armenia, about half a year ago
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