Toxicity opens with a single, abrupt, pulverizing C5 power chord. After a brief silence, the album’s first riff is unveiled: a crushing, punishingly slow pattern that repeats for about twenty seconds. Then the song breaks loose, and any listeners who haven’t been scared off are banging their heads and pumping their fists. This album, my friends, represents the turn-of-the-century alternative metal movement's finest hour. This is music that is bursting with energy; aside from the aforementioned opening bars and the ethnic flute coda, every moment has a sense of forward motion, of rushing inexorably towards a climax. This is also music that is bursting with ideas, be it drawing upon the traditions of Armenian folksong, or pulling a rapid tempo change the likes of which are more endemic to math rock than alternative metal. The cumulative whole is a record that is powerful, compelling, and consistent. The band’s predominant stylistic touchstones—hardcore and thrash metal—aren’t uncommon in the world of aggro-metal, but they are interpreted in ways that are both shockingly original and rewardingly unpredictable. The band’s skillful assimilation of elements from hardcore punk is best demonstrated in “X”, a two-minute hard rocker built from the alternation of two riffs: one a hulking, half-time monster that sounds lifted straight from a hardcore breakdown, the other a drum-fueled speed demon that might not sound out of place on Terrorizer’s World Downfall. The influence of punk rock manifests itself elsewhere in the form of gang vocals (“Needles”), siren-like guitars (“Science”), and the short duration of the album’s songs (not one lasting more than four minutes). From thrash metal, guitarist Daron Malakian derives the raw materials from which he crafts his idiosyncratic riffing style: palm mutes, power chords, and grit. But while Malakian may borrow from earlier guitarists in his techniques, the ways in which he implements those techniques are entirely his own. Indeed, during his time with System, Malakian seemed to be a bottomless well of riffs; it’s only been since he started his new band Scars on Broadway that he’s run dry. Providing an effective complement to Malakian’s dropped-C mayhem is bassist Shavo Odadjian, whose precisely placed accents lend the music an impeccable rhythmic backbone. John Bolmayan’s drumming is vigorous and energetic, and fills in the gaps between Malakian’s start-stop riffs impressively. Vocalist Serj Tankian is capable of both clear, resonant singing and rough, forceful shouting, and it is his skillful juxtaposition of the two styles that lends interest to his performance. Malakian’s backing vocals consist variously of clean singing and barked growls. Used sparingly, as they are here, his vocals lend valuable contrast; only when used excessively, as on the band’s later albums, do they become grating. For the most part, Toxicity is not a song-oriented album. Instead, it resembles Slayer’s Reign in Blood or Napalm Death’s Scum in that it is built largely from short, fast songs that resemble each other, not to the point that they are painfully repetitive or in danger of being confused with each other, but sufficiently that one is unlikely to have strong preferences among them. There are a few exceptions: the singles “Toxicity”, “Aerials”, and “Chop Suey!”, and the psuedo-ballad “Atwa”. The singles were well-chosen, as they are by far the most instantly gratifying songs on the album, laden with pop hooks interspersed with the more chaotic fare. Those familiar with the aforementioned hits seeking an album of similar songs, though, should look elsewhere; though Toxicity contains “pop” songs, this is not a “pop” album. In the final reckoning, Toxicity is a potent, convincing demonstration of System of a Down’s formidable talents, both as songwriters and as performers. Highlights include “Deer Dance”, “Science”, and the deservedly well-known “Toxicity”; but, as mentioned earlier, the best way to hear this album is in its entirety, as a single forty-four minute deluge of sound. Listening open-mindedly in this manner, you will almost certainly be impressed. You might even find yourself banging your head. 4.5/5
Quite well-written review. Succinct, balanced, comprehensive. Nice work. Still too long, but I just hate long reviews, as I've said many times. And never conclude with In Conclusion. I hate those words.
Thanks for the advice. I just made a few minor revisions (clarifying some things, ommitting "in conclusion", and adjusting for the fact that SoaD play in dropped-C, not D), I'll try to trim it down later.
It's fine the way it is, really. I was just brainwashed to write ridiculously concisely in my journalism units (though it didn't really work).
Bah. It's such a nebulous term and SoaD are so popularly considered nu-metal that it's a forgivable lapse.
I don't think it's too long. You were pretty concise, and I don't think you could trim it much without taking away necessary elements. Good review, and I agree.
Liked the review, like the album. I used to think SOAD's sound was annoying and ouchie my ears and such, but over a few years of having their albums this has faded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu-metal The first paragraph pretty much nails SoaD to a tee. I grant you, they're brainier than a lot of the macho tuff-guy posturing of most of the bands associated with the sound, but their eclecticism doesn't change the fact that they came up in the midst of the scene and were primarily influenced by the same wellsprings as their contemporaries. KoRn has as much Faith No More in them as SoaD do. Their fans like to say they're not because of how odious most nu-metal is, but they're being absurd.
Train of Thought was, in places, very nu-metal influenced. Honor Thy Father was like an extremely wanky Mudvayne song. As a whole the record isn't, but it's very much an example of DT aping modern metal trends.
Your review's length is fine. Unspeakable isn't the authority on music journalism. Anyways, my opinion on this album: sucks.
One thing you sort of have to mention when reviewing this album is how universal it was. This wasn't an album that was just popular with certain groups. It seemed like everyone got into it. My dad even bought it when it came out. My rap-only friend was obsessed with it. Also, I vehemently disagree with Daron's vocals being "grating" in the later albums. Their vocal harmonies are one of their strong suits and I think that as a band they matured very well. They need to fucking get back together and release some more magic.
Great album. Daron ruined Hypnotize IMO, but his vocals on every other album were great. Hypnotize just had too much lead vocal from him, and while he's got a decent voice he was just pissing on one of my all-time favourite vocalists. LEAVE THE LEADS TO SERJ FOR FUCK'S SAKE.
Great album, it's what helped me discern that I like metal and rock more than rap and pop (as a teenager).
Whenever I play this CD, I play it over and over and over. Of course, I do skip a few songs every time, but it is still a great CD.
Still great to this day. And despite how good the rest of their stuff is it's their best album to me.
