September 4, 2001 - Toxicity

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and over three years since their debut album "System Of A Down", System Of A Down released their second album "Toxicity" on September 4, 2001. This new album is not quite as heavy as their debut as System use a lot more melodies and harmonies and Daron Malakian starts to sing more, but there's still lots of what makes System so awesome. Let's check out their long-awaited second album! The album kicks off with "Prison Song" and the heavy stop-and-start guitars hit hard and sound great and Serj Tankian's lyrics are excellent as he sings about the problems of the prison system in the United States (including statistics!) Daron's guitar is cool throughout and I love his "well i'ma crack my, smack my bitch right here in Hollywood!"  Who knew being educated could be so fun and sound so freaking good! A pretty wicked way to kick things off! Up next is "Needles" and Daron plays some really catchy and heavy guitar and seems to only play the extremes: either really high or super low and heavy, and both sound great! Serj's singing sounds good as usual and his super low screams still sound just as devastating as last album. Daron sings a short verse towards the end and he sounds good here as I like this change-up. They explode nicely back into the chorus to wrap things up, another pretty cool song! Track 3 is "Deer Dance" and Shavo Odadjian and Daron both play some really heavy stuff in this punishing chorus riff. Daron plays some funky guitar in the verse that sounds pretty cool and Serj sings a great verse overtop. He yells nicely once they return to the heavy chorus and everything sounds very tight and pretty fucking sweet! Daron slows things down with some pretty cool lighter guitar, Serj sings a softer verse to nicely match this mood, then they explode wonderfully back into the main riff. So heavy and so good! The next track is "Jet Pilot" and they dive right into the chorus of this short song, and it's a fast-paced and heavy chorus with some more sweet guitar and some nice loud singing by Serj. Daron plays another abnormal, funky, and interesting riff in the verse and Serj adds his unique style to make things sound only like SOAD can: a weird but very heavy and cool vibe. This sums up this short song and while it's not as good as the first three songs, if this is the lower end of your spectrum, you're doing pretty freaking awesome! Track 5 is another short song called "X" (pronounced like "multiply") and Daron plays another heavy and awesome main guitar riff to lead the way. Johnny Dolmayan's drums sound great as well and Serj yells another nice verse, including holding some long notes while singing and screaming! For such a short song, it's packed with lots of good stuff, I was headbanging the whole two minutes! Up next is arguably System's most popular song "Chop Suey!" and Daron starts off with a nice fast acoustic guitar riff, Dolmayan adds some cool drums and they nicely build up to the main riff, which as you'd expect is fast, heavy and pretty damn cool! Serj sounds awesome coming in and out with his bursts of singing and they just collapse into the softer chorus so perfectly as Daron resumes the cool acoustic guitar and Serj sings a soft but epic chorus overtop. The combination of these parts sounds really great and it's easy to see why this was a single; and why it became one of their most well-known songs. They close things out with a loud and super epic new verse followed by a loud final chorus and if you like metal, how could you not like this song? Track 7 is another short song called "Bounce" and it's got a heavy yet fittingly bouncing main riff and everyone seems to be shouting the chorus: "Jump! Bounce! Up, Down!" Serj is actually singing about a pogo stick and he makes some very strange noises that I just love! His oddness and humor are just so good and this is a pretty catchy and cool, lighthearted and funny song. It's got a pretty nice breakdown midway through as well! The next track is "Forest" and Dolmayan plays some really cool drums throughout this whole song. There's of course some heavy bass, cool new guitars and Serj sings a solid verse to complete another unique, inventive and pretty cool main riff. The chorus is just as heavy and cool and they do a great job of building things up and breaking them down over and over again on this song. Just another fantastic tune! Track 9 is called "ATWA" and Daron starts things off with a quiet but cool guitar riff and Serj sings softly overtop to match the mood nicely. Daron echoes him sometimes as well and they sound good together as well. The chorus is louder with some cool heavy guitar and Serj nicely yelling as well. The heavy chorus sounds great and after a couple rounds Daron even plays a short but cool guitar solo! They end it with a final heavy chorus and this was a cool change of pace. Up next is "Science" and Daron plays a cool guitar riff to open things, before segueing nicely into a typically heavy and solid main riff. Shavo and Johnny provide a nice heavy rhythm section and Serj sings another cool verse in his weird and one-of-a-kind voice. The chorus has some catchy guitar by Daron and after a couple rounds they shift to a space-y new riff that has a cool Middle-Eastern vibe to it. After mellowing out here for a bit they nicely return to the main riff to finish things off. Track 11 is a short song called "Shimmy" and Daron leads the way with a fast and heavy guitar riff and Dolmayan's drums are perfectly timed to stop-and-start along with the guitar riff. Serj sings another weird and cool verse and he sounds pretty funny singing in the chorus, "I wanna shimmy shimmy shimmy til' the break of dawn yeah" overtop such a heavy riff. They quiet things down briefly, only to slam into a super heavy ending! A cool little song for sure! The next track is the title track "Toxicity" and it's also one of System's biggest songs of their career. Daron starts off with some light guitar, but they quickly shift into a great heavy riff with Dolmayan playing some excellent drums. The light guitar riff in the verse is entrancing and Serj sings very nicely along with it. They pick up the heaviness as they love into the chorus and Serj's loud singing sounds great overtop this pretty wicked heavy chorus riff. The whole song is just so smooth and solid! After a couple cool rounds they crank up the heaviness with some great guitar, bass and furious drums and how could you not headbang along? A no-brainer single, that is still very heavy and SOAD. Terrific! Track 13 is "Psycho" and Shavo starts off this one with a cool rolling bass riff. Johnny comes in with a nice drum beat and Daron adds some trippy guitar as they build up to the first "Psycho! Groupie! Cocaine! Crazy!" This is repeated a lot in this song, but Serj delivers it so crazily and he sounds great overtop the heavy music. They quiet things down for a slower and creepy sounding part and they alternate between these to give breaks to the onslaught of heaviness. Daron gets a chance for a long guitar solo towards the end and he tastefully plays come cool stuff that takes us right to the end of the song. The final track on the album is another huge single titled "Aerials" and Daron plays a sitar for the lighter parts of this song, and he makes it sound pretty cool. He and Shavo combine to form a really catchy and cool main riff and once Johnny joins on drums it's time for the first verse as Serj sounds great holding some long notes and they shift so easily into a chugging and heavy riff that somehow sounds great beside the lighter sitar riff. This song is so damn catchy and groovy, and also really heavy! It's really well done and System continue to show that your singles don't have to be simple, they can be some of your best songs! There's some silence and the album appears over, but we have a bonus track known as "Arto", named after a friend of the band's who helped with some of the weird noises you hear on this song. It's got an almost jungle beat with crazy sounds of animals and monkeys, almost like Pink Floyd! It's a very surprising and trippy little song, but it's certainly interesting and psychedelic! An interesting little bonus song.

That is the end of "Toxicity" and I thought it was another phenomenal album from System of a Down! There are so many awesome songs once again and there are certainly no bad ones at all! The fact that I think this is their second best album only shows how amazing I thought their debut album was, because this is a very close second and another spectacular album! Keep it coming System!