System of a Down Hypnotize Music
by System of a Down

Hypnotize is the second album that System Of A Down released in 2005, and it's the best one they have released since 2001's Toxicity. While the other album, Mezmerize, is good it just didn't pack the punch of previous efforts. The songs were energetic, but a little too primitive, regressing quite some bit back to the area covered on their first release. And Steal This Album was just a bit too playful, and much less cohesive. So I was really happy to see System Of A Down in full force again on Hypnotize, doing what they do best: making fun, intelligent, and overall amazing rock music.

Hypnotize sees System Of A Down taking the formula of previous albums and really playing with it, adding various new tricks to their arsenal. The time signature changes that you have come to expect from the band are far more advanced and fluid. The playing overall is much more adept and technical than all of their previous efforts, and everything is just tighter and more intricately bound together. Another great thing about this album is that Daron's vocals are much more prominent on this release, much more up front than on the other albums. His vocal ability has really gotten better this time around, and his vocals in no way compromise or take away from Serj's. In fact, they only help to add an extra dynamic to the band's sound, much like that of Fugazi.

It is an extremely arduous task to choose a favorite song off of this disc, as they are all amazing, but I can narrow it down to a few. The title track is very remarkable due to it's strength and cohesion, and I am really blown away by the power and overall heaviness of "Dreaming", "Kill Rock 'n' Roll" and "Attack", whereas I love "U-Fig" due to how weird and energetic it is. Also worth noting is "Holy Mountains", which is an epic song of unrivaled proportions in rock music today, and definitely the climax of the album.

While some of the latter tracks like "Lonely Day" and "She's Like Heroin" take away a bit of the album's momentum, they are still good songs, and they don't detract much from the album overall. If you are a System Of a Down fan who has been looking for a record as powerful as Toxicity, then your search is over. This is essential listening for fans of heavy music everywhere.

LOVE IT !!!!!!!!