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System of a Down has no patience for groupthink. It manufactures dissent through hard rock that’s hard to pigeonhole — part thrash-metal, part Middle Eastern and sometimes just plain weird. The unorthodox band is releasing two albums in six months, pretty much a no-no in the corporate music business. But that’s just what System of a Down does. “Mezmerize” was released in May, and “Hypnotize” is set to reach record stores Nov. 22. System of a Down’s parent record company, Sony Music, wasn’t too jazzed with the idea. “Anything that doesn’t fit into a cookie cutter is a tough sell for the record company,” says System of a Down singer Serj Tankian, calling from his cell phone before a show in Detroit. “But ultimately it worked".
But “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” could actually be thought of as a single song cycle. Both albums were recorded and mastered as one overall project. And the vibe is intense, to the point of sounding near hysterical. Maybe it was all too much for one dose. But “Mezmerize” debuted on top of the album charts, selling more than 450,000 copies its first week. There’s no reason to think “Hypnotize” won’t come close to that. “It is one big double album, except we released it separately,” Tankian says. “We felt that based on the tape of music that we had, being somewhat progressive, as well as people’s short attention spans (and the fact that we like long records), we were basically faced with a double record. But we decided to release it in a way that it wouldn’t overwhelm things. And people could live with the first half before they get the second.” System of a Down was a slightly different beast when hammering out “Hypnotize” and “Mezmerize.” Guitarist Daron Malakian, who usually writes the bulk of the band’s music, is singing and writing more lyrics now. That’s no problem for Tankian, System of a Down’s usual mouthpiece. “I’ve never liked the corporate structure, let alone like it in a band,” Tankian says. “I don’t like titles and positions and stuff like that. We’re artists. We all write music and we all do what we do. There shouldn’t be that type of separation. No flowcharts involved — nor pie charts.” “Whatever the song requires, that’s what we should do,” he adds. “If it requires a tuba, we’ll add a tuba. If it requires strings, we’ll put in strings. If it requires Daron’s voice and his kind of vibe, then that’s what we’ll put in.” Tankian has other muses outside System of a Down. His activist side is expressed through Axis of Justice. It’s a nonprofit group, co-founded with Audioslave’s Tom Morello, that has organized food drives for the homeless and takes on various political causes. Tankian’s own Serjical Strike Records is set to release a record by Bucket-head, the guitar god who wears a KFC bucket as headgear. Tankian also plans a solo record after “Hypnotize” is released. “System has been the inspiration in terms of how I got into music,” he says. “It’s been my mainstay for the last 10 years, it’s been my day job per se and it’s been the launch to an amazing opening of opportunities for all of us within the band. But it’s also one thing and one animal.” And System of a Down is a beast that’s never satisfied. “As diverse as our music is, it’s not as diverse as I’d like it to be. I think we can go a lot further. But that’s good. That means we’re really ambitious. We’re always trying to outdo ourselves.” “I think Daron and I pull in opposite directions,” he says. “And that creates this kind of tension that when it’s released on stage ... it’s amazing. It’s powerful.”
By CHRIS MACIAS
The Sacramento Bee
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