An album which for me has defined a period of my life was System of a Down's first self titled album. A few people overlook this album and instead head straight for SOADS second outing Toxicity. Toxicity was the album that brought them commerical attention, with catchy, well crafted pieces such as Chop Suey and Toxicity, it is indeed a fine album.
But SOAD's SOAD is, for me, a more honest portrayal of a very individual band whose political views are woven carefully into their songs. This has the effect of creating, at times , an exquisite quagmire of confusion and furious energy that threatens to actually make you think. Other times however the schizophrenic caterwauling of Tankian can take some by surprise. With this in mind I will attempt to lead you through a very frantic and energetic album created by a passionate band that needed to be heard.
SOAD's SOAD was released in 1998, topping the charts at this time (at least in the US) was usual range of factory assembled songs by such artists as; Mariah Carey and Will Smith- nothing against them, it's just not my sort of music, I find it too formulaic. Any who about this album.
As I sit and listen to the opening track Suite-Pee I'm hit with a perplexing short guitar phrase. This has a fantastic effect of drawing me in, almost like a bugle for hunting dogs. Then suddenly- POW- Suddenly that small, quiet, frantic trickle has transformed into a full blown tidal wave. Everything is full blown and loud, leading into another frantic passage, which is slightly quieter, which is beautifully mirrored by Tankian's vocals. It is this use of dynamic shift that is possibly the only common feature through out many of SOADs songs. This expert manipulation is then taken to a higher level at the beginning of the breakdown. The breakdown, that's another review altogether, if you don't know what it is then just listen to Lamb of God's Omerta (the whole song is practically one giant breakdown). A simple repeating guitar riff from Malakian is the solid foundation for Tankian's whirlwind vocals culminating in a change of mood leading to a softly sung passage whose softness is broken by its perplexing content;
`lie naked on the floor and let the messiah go through our souls`
From this builds an exquisite climax which leaves the listener in a daze, to then be thrust back into the main riff and have it speed up only adds to the sense of desperation, you only remain of sanity is Tankian's chanting;
`the following of a Christ,
the following of a Christ,
the falling of Christ,
the falling of Christ` Then silence...
Suddenly a fully charged Dolmayan (how does he get his energy?!) thunders in with a stampeding Tom section, urging you to forget who you are and just thrash on the floor. Welcome to Know. The drums take the full focus for the first part of this track, this is soon accented by the sly work of Malakian and Odajian then here comes the SOAD dynamic change again, sudden silence followed by Tankian screaming. The whole song is full of frantic energy, and races across your ear drum like a child with too much sherbet. Then song's feel changes moving into a Latin/Arabic-esque double semi quaver trot. With Tankian's syrupy vocals revealing their true dexterity, the song slips into a stop start spasm of a chorus. The middle eight is of particular note, an almost dream like feel is created by Tankian's calm, listing vocals, the simple chords from Malakian backed up by Odajian and some extraordinary drum work which keeps this section from becoming to disjointed from the rest of the song by continuing with the introductions theme. This, then sleekly slips into the chorus eventually ending with a death rattle (not the Pantera song) like finish.
Ah! Sugar! An eponymous song if ever I heard one. If are not familiar with this track then please listen to it, it is classical system of a down. Simple repeating passages of sinister guitar/bass intertwine with the bizarre ranting like lyrics create a thick miasma. For me this has always been a party starter, just like the song Shimmy on Toxicity, it is a song which demands the attention of the listener. Again the patented SOAD dynamic changes are abound in this song but they never seem to decrease it's emotional intensity and ferocity. The song's lyrical content is also of note, while being almost completely non-sensical it has a brutal and almost pleading like quality in their delivery. It is this emotional puppetry by which Tankian can control the song's lyrics, which really makes him stand out as a singer. Sugars' breaking point for me comes with the almost soliloquy like section where Tankian's vocal range again shines over sporadic, accented twitches provided by the rest of the band.
The void that is left by sugar's cocaine induced death is quickly taken up by Suggestions. A quick finger plucking section and we're straight into it. No slowing down here! Here a demented fairground ride ensues leading us around a hall of mirrors with Tankian demonstrating to us our governmental system of censorship from the point of view of a lighthouse, I'm serious check out the lyrics! The solid guitar/bass parts help the song chug nicely along ending with a triumphant tail off.
Spiders finally heralds the change in overall dynamic of the album. This is almost a mid way breather for the band and the listener. This is one of systems slower more thoughtful songs. It's beautifully simple guitar parts slide graciously over the soft musings of Tankian. This song is a prime example of another of this band's strengths: their ability to play as a unit. This represents to me the other side of SOAD, the quiet and contemplative side, this track helps to introduce the duality that exists within SOAD's work. The melancholy of this song comes through with all the instruments, enhanced by the chime of a funeral bell this song gently floats on a gust of wind, this wind becomes slightly blustery later on in the song whilst still retaining its soft nature.
After this initial breather, the song Ddevil is let out of its cage, it then proceeds to drool all over my leg. This demented foxtrot bounces around like a kid off his meds. A sharp snare drum march drives the song forward along with a jangly bass line all throws this song rolling onto the conveyor belt. So far in this review I have talked a lot about Tankian's vocals, I do not want to draw attention away from the rest of the band but one of the most interesting factors is the lead singer and how he uses his voice to complement the rest of the band. The strong bass and drum lines help to regiment this song to a tight time signature while the vocals and guitar are free to provide sporadic support and accentuation to the rest of the song. The light doubles that Dolmayan throws on his snare drum keep this song feeling tight. Odadjian's bassline continuously surges forwards. The choruses break up the song lending a stop start effect to the song. In contrast to this harsh bassline the guitars are often more towards the high end giving the song a nice full ranged sound.
The song Soil sounds like a demented litany thrust over an pounding bassline and some very careful guitar work. My main point of interest in this song is the instrumental parts of this song the first one starts at about 2:13, this is simply a break for a very soft guitar solo which is laid gently upon some very solid drum rhythms. This slowly gathers momentum leading to a second more energetic guitar part. This effectively breaks up and introduces the most violent and aggressive part of the song.
I will conclude the rest of this review next time, I'm sorry about the length, but hey it's detailed! What's the problem with that?
Cheers for reading,
Shai-Hu-Lud still moves on
System of a down are amazing, much better than their current solo projects. Nice Review
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