My Rating: / 10

I'm not saying Hypnotize is a bad album, but I'm getting ahead of myself here so let's backtrack.

Mezmerize starts with a very slow, moody opener that fits perfectly. It's a brilliant beginning and the album doesn't really let up. The first single, BYOB (which I now find out was co-written by Casey Chaos) was explosive and gave you a good idea of what to expect from this album. The lyrics aren't on par with their Self Titled, Toxicity or even Steal This Album (which I'm not a big fan of but anyways..). Don't get me wrong, Daron is perfectly capable and Question!- which is the only song that had lyrics written entirely by Serj- is a very very good song lyrically. I also don't have a problem with punk writings- Amen is one of my favourite bands, so is Refused and I love punk in general- it's just that some of it seems a bit amateurish, Daron's not quite as experienced in it as he should have been before he set out to write this. I also understand using lines that seem silly to make a point or using them as metaphors, but some of them just sound lame. Even the song titles remind me of punk titles, before their titles were more abstract as were the actual song meanings.

Musically, Mezmerize is exciting and interesting as any System of a Down music is. Daron proves once again that instrumentally, he is a master. If you put Serj's literature and Daron's sense of musical integrity together, you get a very dynamic duo. The only problem I have with the instrument work is that, unlike previous SOAD offerings, there are no sections that the bass or drums really stick out (Think of songs like Peephole or Chop Suey). Just a small matter though, doesn't really subtract from the overall experience.

The album ends on a powerful note, Old School Hollywood and Lost In Hollywood are both songs that SOAD have never made anything like before. A very excellent midway point leading up to Hypnotize...

Hypnotize is more of the same kind of stuff only it's not as good as Mezmerize. The opener isn't as strong, though, along with its' slightly grindcore drum beat, it will excite metal fans.

On Mezmerize there were no songs that I don't like, but on Hypnotize there's three; U-Fig, Kill Rock N' Roll and Stealing Society, with Holy Mountains being a bit iffy. However, all of these songs have atleast one interesting part in the song that I do in fact enjoy, it's just the rest of it I don't like. For example, Stealing Society goes into a part near the end that reminds me a lot of the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and U-Fig has an amazing part 1:35 in that reminds me of Ulpa.

The rest of the songs maintain the same flow as Mezmerize, they're interesting and sound completely original to the mainstream or most things you could hear in the underground for that matter. Lonely Day is a fairly generic rock radioish song but it's so powerful and effective I'm glad they did it. The ending track is a continuation of the first song on Mezmerize so I really enjoy how they wrapped it up.

As far as I know, Daron wrote most of the album this time around which leads some people to believe that System of a Down are in trouble. Even Daron said that he sometimes feels alienated from his band. I'm not here to say whether or not they'll break up, but I wish Serj had a bigger part in the music like he once did. He's a better lyricist and a better vocalist.

Their harmonizing however, sounds brilliant on both albums though sometimes Daron's voice is a little too high up in the mix. Whatever though, these two albums are called Daron's masterpieces.

I grouped both albums into the same file because they're supposed to be a double album in case you didn't know. Mezmerize is the better of the two parts but Hypnotize holds its' own. Let's just hope their next album isn't as much of a Daron show. Sorry Daron, I love you but it had to be said. Not that you'll read this anyways.

By Tyler