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Serious, silly, spellbinding: Band knows how to 'Mezmerize' its fans

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  • Serious, silly, spellbinding: Band knows how to 'Mezmerize' its fans

    SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, WA
    Sept 30 2005


    Serious, silly, spellbinding: Band knows how to 'Mezmerize' its fans

    By GENE STOUT
    SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER POP MUSIC CRITIC

    System of a Down -- a high-decibel foursome with a devilish sense of
    humor and an unlikely blend of musical styles -- may be one of
    today's most successful arena-rock bands. But the Armenian American
    group hasn't forgotten its roots.


    COMING UP
    SYSTEM OF A DOWN, THE MARS VOLTA AND HELLA

    WHAT: Rock concert
    WHEN: Wednesday night at 7
    WHERE: KeyArena
    TICKETS: $31.50-$44 at Ticketmaster


    "There's a commonality there, a common denominator culturally,"
    singer Serj Tankian said by phone en route to a show in Minneapolis.

    "That's been a strength in some ways, but it's also an understanding
    of the dynamics of music and the different beats and melodies that
    wouldn't be common to a non-Armenian."

    Tankian never planned to be in an Armenian American rock band, it
    just turned out that way. He started playing with singer and
    guitarist Daron Malakian in high school, and they later hooked up
    with drummer John Dolmayan and bassist Shavo Odadjian. The group
    signed a recording contract with Rick Rubin's American Recordings
    label in the late '90s, and Rubin has produced their records every
    since.

    The group's 2001 album, "Toxicity," arrived just before the Sept. 11
    terrorist attacks and served as a kind of soundtrack for the national
    trauma.

    "It was kind of luck or destiny that it ended up this way," Tankian
    said.

    Currently on its first major North American tour in three years, the
    band Newsweek magazine dubbed "L.A.'s Armenian Idols" performs
    Wednesday night at KeyArena with The Mars Volta and Hella.

    Tankian and his bandmates took time out from the tour on Tuesday to
    lead a rally for the Armenian National Committee of America at the
    Batavia, Ill., office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert to urge his
    support of Armenian genocide legislation.

    If passed, the legislation will officially recognize the genocide of
    1.5 million Armenians in Turkey from 1915 to 1923.

    "We want to encourage him to do the right thing and bring it to the
    floor for a vote," Tankian said. "(Hastert) has had the opportunity
    to do it twice before and has not for different reasons. It's been
    five years and everyone is tired of waiting."

    The tour supports the release of the platinum-selling album,
    "Mezmerize," the first CD in a two-part set that includes a companion
    album, "Hypnotize," due in stores Nov. 17.

    "Mezmerize" is a schizophrenic album that blends howling vocals and
    blistering guitars with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation
    (as well as violins, cellos and violas) and barbed social commentary.
    The album explores politics, Hollywood phoniness, and life and death.
    It may sound like an impossible mix, but it's provocative and
    entertaining -- serious and silly at the same time.

    "Why don't presidents fight the war?/ Why do they always send the
    poor?" Tankian screams on the anti-war song "B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own
    Bombs)."

    For Tankian, who grew up in Lebanon, strong anti-war feelings come
    naturally.

    "I always say that if you come from a place where you hear bombs
    dropped on a city, you'd be reluctant to drop bombs on any city," he
    said.

    Pornography comes under fire in "Violent Pornography": "It's a
    violent pornography/ Choking chicks and sodomy." "Cigaro" is an
    X-rated song that has Tankian and Malakian in a hilariously operatic
    vocal duel that recalls Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

    "It's probably a combination of personal and non-personal matters
    that have led us to where we are musically," Tankian said.

    "I'm not comfortable with just entertaining. Although I like
    entertaining, I also like bringing forward the truth of our times as
    minstrels used to in the old days."

    "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" were recorded and mixed at the same time,
    but scheduled for release six months apart.

    "The packaging is designed so that when people buy the second record,
    they can attach it to the first, making it a double record," Tankian
    said.

    The band decided to release two discs instead of one because they had
    so much good material from recording sessions.

    "That doesn't sound very modest, but that's what it is. As we were
    writing and recording, we realized that there was no way we could
    decide what songs were going to be on the record," he said.

    "And we're not fans of long, long records."

    Tankian described Rubin, a superproducer who has worked with everyone
    from the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash, as a nurturing presence in the
    studio.

    "He brings a lot out of you, but he doesn't try to completely change
    things. He tries to let the beast be the beast."
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