My Shit Smells Much Better than Yours

System of a Down – Mezmerize

I'm a big fan of System's first three albums, and after their kick arse show at the Big Day Out earlier this year, I was really looking forward to hearing this one. Unfortunately in this case high expectations have bought high disappointment.

After a few listens I've grown to appreciate about half the songs, but it's still quite easily the weakest of all their albums. Why is it that whenever a band says “Our songwriting has really improved so much while working on this album!” it means the new album going to stink?

Judging from the singles preceding the album release I was expecting a bit of a return to the quirky chaotic style of their first album, but the music is really just more of the same as 'Toxicity'. Most of the songs are capable enough, but they lack the spark of their previous albums. A few tracks are a bit crap though, and the album as a whole doesn't seem to fit together that well.

The real weak point is the lyrics. System have never been that great with their lyrics but this album is a particular low light. Most of the songs only have about four lines which are repeated over and over, and they're usually not very good, e.g. “Everybody, everybody, everybody living now. Everybody, everybody, everybody sucks.”, and it drags down a few otherwise good tracks.

The most annoying thing about it is that it's part of a two CD set, with the second one 'Hypnotise' being released later this year. Seeing as the first part is barely over half an hour in length, unless 'Hypnotise' is significantly longer the conceit of releasing the songs over two discs is pretty cheeky.

Having said that, there are a couple of songs that are quite good. The single 'Cigaro' is great, and the closing track 'Lost in Hollywood' is a sad soft track (a bit of a departure for them), and is the only track that lives up to the standard they've set with their older albums.

C+ System of a Down, we know you can try harder!