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The News Tribune, WA
Sept 30 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Systematic progress
ERNEST A. JASMIN;
Published: September 30th, 2005 12:01 AM
KARL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian says the band's upcoming album,
`Hypnotize,' was recorded during the same sessions as last May's
`Mezmerize.'
Two of the most progressive bands in hard rock will be on display
when System of a Down and The Mars Volta invade KeyArena on
Wednesday.
System, the show's headliner, cemented its reputation as one of the
most off-the-wall bands in metal with the May release of `Mezmerize.'
Song titles such as `Violent Pornography' and `This Cocaine Makes Me
Feel Like I'm on This Song' give even the uninitiated an idea of how
out there the band's progressive sound can be.
`Hypnotize,' the band's next album, is due in record stores in
November. It was recorded during the same sessions that spawned
`Mezmerize.' And during a recent phone interview, singer Serj Tankian
said fans could expect a similar vibe from the new songs.
`It's a double record, so it's kind of a continuity of the story,'
Tankian said. `The departure isn't that much off. ... In some ways I
think it's a little more progressive than `Mezmerize.''
The track listing had not yet been finalized, Tankian said on Sept.
15. But he read the names of several tracks that might wind up on the
album from a demo copy he had with him. Among the ones he read were
`Attack,' `Dreaming,' `Stealing Society,' `Tentative,' `Holy
Mountains,' `Vicinity,' `She's Like Heroin' and `Soldier's Side,'
that last one a sequel to the brief ballad that opens the `Mezmerize'
album.
System has already begun playing a couple of other new songs - `Kill
Rock 'N' Roll' and `Hezze' - on the first leg of the tour. MTV
described the latter as an instrumental.
`I'm not sure that's going to be on `Hypnotize' yet,' he said, adding
that it might be released on some kind of limited-edition bonus disc.
System - also guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and
drummer John Dolmayan - crafts an intellectual brand of metal that is
both affecting and thought-provoking.
Among the social and political themes the band has explored since its
self-titled debut hit record stores in 1998 are the relationship
between global conglomerates and the waging of war (`Boom!');
privatization of American prisons (`Prison Song'); and Armenian
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turkey in 1915. (Members of the band
are of Armenian heritage, and the event remains contentious, as the
Turkish government does not acknowledge it happened.)
True to form, `B.Y.O.B.' and `Cigaro,' the first singles released
from `Mezmerize,' tackle weighty issues. The former is an enraged
indictment of the war in Iraq. `Why do they always send the poor?'
Malakian shrieks as the song begins.
The latter attacks the political powers-that-be in broader strokes.
`We're the regulators that deregulate,' Tankian screams during the
song's refrain. `We're the propagators of all genocide/Burning
through the world's resources, then we run and hide.'
Another track, `Sad Statue,' decries the growing rift between
so-called red states and blue states and the impact it might have on
democracy.
However, Tankian suggested that the new album would be lighter on
political themes.
``Attack' might have a little politics in it,' he said after giving
it a moment's thought. `Lyrically, it was more
stream-of-consciousness kind of stuff. ... Daron wrote a good part of
the lyrics as well.'
Tankian also founded political activist group Axis of Justice
(www.axisofjustice.org) - with Audioslave guitarist Tom Morrello.
`It's hard to be fully active. We're both on tour, but we have huge
breaks,' he said. `To me I do what's in my heart. ... The concepts of
justice and injustice are what happen to be important to me.'
The singer is also involved with some non-System musical projects. He
contributes to the forthcoming Buckethead album `Enter the Chicken' -
due Oct. 25 from Tankian's Serjical Strike Records - and also
recently remixed Notorious B.I.G.'s `Who Shot Ya' for a video game
project.
Regarding his penchant for keeping so many plates spinning, Tankian
said, `I know I can handle a lot, so I put myself under a lot of
stuff.'
Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389
[email protected]
What: System of a Down, with The Mars Volta
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
Tickets: $31.50 to $44
Information: Ticketmaster (253-627-8497 in Tacoma, 206-628-0888 in
Seattle or www.ticketmaster.com)
Sept 30 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Systematic progress
ERNEST A. JASMIN;
Published: September 30th, 2005 12:01 AM
KARL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian says the band's upcoming album,
`Hypnotize,' was recorded during the same sessions as last May's
`Mezmerize.'
Two of the most progressive bands in hard rock will be on display
when System of a Down and The Mars Volta invade KeyArena on
Wednesday.
System, the show's headliner, cemented its reputation as one of the
most off-the-wall bands in metal with the May release of `Mezmerize.'
Song titles such as `Violent Pornography' and `This Cocaine Makes Me
Feel Like I'm on This Song' give even the uninitiated an idea of how
out there the band's progressive sound can be.
`Hypnotize,' the band's next album, is due in record stores in
November. It was recorded during the same sessions that spawned
`Mezmerize.' And during a recent phone interview, singer Serj Tankian
said fans could expect a similar vibe from the new songs.
`It's a double record, so it's kind of a continuity of the story,'
Tankian said. `The departure isn't that much off. ... In some ways I
think it's a little more progressive than `Mezmerize.''
The track listing had not yet been finalized, Tankian said on Sept.
15. But he read the names of several tracks that might wind up on the
album from a demo copy he had with him. Among the ones he read were
`Attack,' `Dreaming,' `Stealing Society,' `Tentative,' `Holy
Mountains,' `Vicinity,' `She's Like Heroin' and `Soldier's Side,'
that last one a sequel to the brief ballad that opens the `Mezmerize'
album.
System has already begun playing a couple of other new songs - `Kill
Rock 'N' Roll' and `Hezze' - on the first leg of the tour. MTV
described the latter as an instrumental.
`I'm not sure that's going to be on `Hypnotize' yet,' he said, adding
that it might be released on some kind of limited-edition bonus disc.
System - also guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and
drummer John Dolmayan - crafts an intellectual brand of metal that is
both affecting and thought-provoking.
Among the social and political themes the band has explored since its
self-titled debut hit record stores in 1998 are the relationship
between global conglomerates and the waging of war (`Boom!');
privatization of American prisons (`Prison Song'); and Armenian
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turkey in 1915. (Members of the band
are of Armenian heritage, and the event remains contentious, as the
Turkish government does not acknowledge it happened.)
True to form, `B.Y.O.B.' and `Cigaro,' the first singles released
from `Mezmerize,' tackle weighty issues. The former is an enraged
indictment of the war in Iraq. `Why do they always send the poor?'
Malakian shrieks as the song begins.
The latter attacks the political powers-that-be in broader strokes.
`We're the regulators that deregulate,' Tankian screams during the
song's refrain. `We're the propagators of all genocide/Burning
through the world's resources, then we run and hide.'
Another track, `Sad Statue,' decries the growing rift between
so-called red states and blue states and the impact it might have on
democracy.
However, Tankian suggested that the new album would be lighter on
political themes.
``Attack' might have a little politics in it,' he said after giving
it a moment's thought. `Lyrically, it was more
stream-of-consciousness kind of stuff. ... Daron wrote a good part of
the lyrics as well.'
Tankian also founded political activist group Axis of Justice
(www.axisofjustice.org) - with Audioslave guitarist Tom Morrello.
`It's hard to be fully active. We're both on tour, but we have huge
breaks,' he said. `To me I do what's in my heart. ... The concepts of
justice and injustice are what happen to be important to me.'
The singer is also involved with some non-System musical projects. He
contributes to the forthcoming Buckethead album `Enter the Chicken' -
due Oct. 25 from Tankian's Serjical Strike Records - and also
recently remixed Notorious B.I.G.'s `Who Shot Ya' for a video game
project.
Regarding his penchant for keeping so many plates spinning, Tankian
said, `I know I can handle a lot, so I put myself under a lot of
stuff.'
Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389
[email protected]
What: System of a Down, with The Mars Volta
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
Tickets: $31.50 to $44
Information: Ticketmaster (253-627-8497 in Tacoma, 206-628-0888 in
Seattle or www.ticketmaster.com)