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System Of A Down's 2001 CD, "Toxicity," was a huge victory for fans of
adventurous music.
"Toxicity" stretched the boundaries of hard rock and heavy metal, employing
frenetic stop-and-start beats, crunching guitars and offbeat and hyper vocals to
create a sound that careened from moment to moment, yet somehow was both catchy
and stirring.
The chaotic, left-of-center sound was hardly a recipe for mainstream success,
yet that's exactly what "Toxicity" became. A multi-platinum seller, the CD
debuted at number one on the "Billboard" magazine album chart and spawned four
hit singles, including the chart-topping "Aerials."
With the prospect of even bigger success within reach, many fans undoubtedly
wondered if System Of A Down, performing Tuesday as the headliner of Ozzfest at
the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown, would rein in some of the
unpredictable and unconventional tendencies that characterized "Toxicity."
But to hear guitarist-singer Daron Malakian tell it, fans never had anything to
worry about when it came to the band's next project, the release of two CDs,
"Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize," just six months apart last year.
As the band's chief songwriter, Malakian is clearly driven not by financial
reward, but by his creativity.
"That's what makes you wealthy, man, not money," he says. "Money doesn't bring
me happiness. We've done well. I've bought myself a house and a car and stuff.
That stuff doesn't bring me happiness. For me it's all about the next song or
taking what I've done to another level. That's what gets me high."
System Of A Down has been following its musical path since 1994, when Malakian
and singer-keyboardist Serj Tankian -- who had started a group called Soil the
year before -- added Shavo Odadjian on bass and changed the band name to System
Of A Down.
Drummer John Dolmayan came on board in 1996, and two years later, after landing
a deal with American Recordings, the band released its self-titled debut CD,
followed by "Toxicity" in 2001.
From the start, Malakian says, he and Tankian -- who shares lyric writing duties
in the band and is heavily involved in helping shape the final form of the songs
-- put musical development as their number one priority.
"When we were a club band, we always used to say 'Man, if we ever see success,
we'd like to open doors for other people, to push the boundaries and fully
contribute something to art, to music, that is going to help it evolve instead
of doing stuff for the sake of money or doing stuff for the sake of being
popular or whatever," Malakian says.
Given that mindset, it's no surprise that the members of System Of A Down, who
have announced they will go on an extended hiatus after headlining this summer's
Ozzfest tour, kept musical growth as a key goal for "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize."
"We wanted to make a record that was a success beyond where we were at,"
Malakian says. "All of my favorite bands evolved, and I really wanted our band
to evolve, and so did Serge. We were just focused on not repeating ourselves,
not putting out (another) 'Toxicity,' not doing the same things all over again.
So, yeah, we were pushing it a little bit."
Malakian and his bandmates can consider that mission accomplished, as both
"Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" went straight to No. 1 on "Billboard's" album chart
upon their releases. Both CDs are every bit as daring and difficult to
categorize as "Toxicity."
"Mezmerize" is the more approachable of the two albums. That's because many of
the songs are even more melodic than the group's past work. Songs like
"Revenga," and "Violent Pornography," and "Radio/Video," in particular, feature
soaring vocals from Tankian and Malakian, plenty of catchy instrumental riffs
and other nifty sonic twists.
"Hypnotize," has its melodic songs as well, including "Dreaming" and "Kill Rock
'N Roll," but overall is a bit more chaotic musically.
At the same time, System Of A Down have not softened their sound. Just note
"B.Y.O.B.," the popular first single from "Mezmerize." That track opens with
pummeling guitars and an unhinged screaming vocal before shifting into hookier,
but still hard-hitting territory. "Vicinity Of Obscenity," from "Hypnotize," is
full of sudden twists and turns in melody, rhythm and even the vocals.
Malakian, who wrote most of the music for "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize," pushed
out material at a voluminous rate for the new CDs. In fact, he wrote so many
songs that for a time System Of A Down considered making the new record a double
CD.
In the end, the band opted to split the material into separate single-disc sets,
with the early summer release of "Mezmerize" followed by "Hypnotize" last fall.
"As a writer I kind of go crazy," Malakian says. "I even had like at least 20 or
30 more songs to bring into the band. But we had to stop and get into the studio
at some point. I mean, what I do is I write a lot of songs, just a lot of stuff,
and hopefully pick the best out of the bulk. There are so many things that I
still didn't bring into the band that probably could have made the record. So
it's not unusual, though. That's just the way I work."
By Alan Sculley
Pittsburghlive.com
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