System of a Down - Toxicity

One of the great things about writing reviews for VoodooJunkie is that I can say exactly what I like about an album. I don't have to worry about demographics, or market forces, or about upsetting the readership by giving the current flavour of the month a less than favourable review (How many more gushing reviews can the new Slipknot album get?!). That's why you can trust me when I say that 'Toxicity' the second album from Armenian-American nu-metallers System Of A Down is pretty darn good.

This album's release has been largely overshadowed by the issuing of the Iowa ninesome (What is the word for a group of nine people? A nontet? A nonentity perhaps?) with a penchant for dressing up's second effort. But if you're anything like me you'll have been looking forward to this one a lot more. Where Slipknot whinge and whine on (albeit in a scary, shouty voice) about how much they hate other people, how much they hate their families, how much they hate the music business (a music business which has given them fame and fortune beyond the realms of all but the most privileged of bands), System Of A Down are much more restrained with their rants. In fact, it's probably fair to say that it's quite difficult to comprehend what the heck they're going on about half the time! Does anybody really understand what vocalist Serj Tankian means as he proudly announces in the song 'Needles' that My tapeworm tells me what to do/My tapeworm tells me where to go?

Anyone who has heard System Of A Down's first album will know what to expect musically from this offering. For the rest of you, here's a brief description. The down-tuned shoutiness that typifies much of that given the title 'nu-metal' is here in abundance, but what sets System Of A Down apart from the pack is their willingness to balance all the grunts with plenty of lighter moments. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes intricate, sometimes plain silly but always interesting, it is these moments of relative lightness that really make this band what they are. Nowhere is this contrast of styles displayed better than in the song 'Chop Suey!', which contains surely the most brutal riff of the year so far, which seamlessly turns into a rather delicate guitar and piano passage.

Is 'Toxicity' as good as the first System Of A Down album? Hmm... maybe. Only time will tell. What 'Toxicity' does lack is a really killer track to finish with. Album closer 'Aerials' seems to just peter out, leaving me with a vague sense of "oh, was that the end?" type disappointment. That said, 'Toxicity' is easily going to make it onto my 'best albums of 2001' list.

'Iowa' by Slipknot probably will not.


-- Al

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