System wrap-up double disc

Picking up from where last May's installment left off, System of a Down commence part two of their double disc oeuvre, Mezmerize/Hypnotize, with "Attack!", a literal attack on our fragile ears. Vocalist Serj Tankian's atonal yelps fade in and out as guitarist and songwriter Daron Malakian's more radio-friendly voice chimes in on the leisurely bits. Meanwhile, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan mostly try and match pace with the dueling leads.\nSystem of a Down has never been shy about employing complex prog-rock song structures on most of their tracks, which makes it all the more surprising that Hypnotize is the more immediately accessible disc of their 2005 output. More accessible doesn't necessarily mean better, though, but it's now officially impossible to recognize Mezmerize/Hypnotize as anything other than a single, unified work. It's also impossible for me not to call it the best album I've heard all year.\nFocusing on Hypnotize on its own, however tempting it may be to refer to its companion side, this is noticeably a record of extremes. Extreme volume and guitar-chugging speed frequently yield to moments of pop song-craft that could easily be deemed graceful. Both "Dreaming" and "Tentative" shift tempo upwards of five times and feature tuneful choruses, while "Holy Mountains" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" are polar opposites of one another, the former finding the band waxing poetically somber for nearly six minutes on the ritual slaughter of their countrymen in Armenia, and the latter being a succinct onslaught of terrific decibel force and comical lyrics.\nThe chief single and title track hint at the band's political leanings, whether it's asking the kids at Tiananmen Square if "fashion was the reason" why they joined the party, or lamenting the initial cause for war ("disguise it, hypnotize it, television made you buy it"), but despite Tankian and Malakian's mocking call to beat on all the "pathetic, flag-waving ignorant geeks" on "U-Fig," their leftist agenda isn't a distraction from the music.\nThe only noticeable misstep on a record filled with killer songs is "She's Like Heroin," on which a wide-eyed Malakian muses about "ghosts of hooker girly dudes," "selling ass for heroin," and wanting to wear a little dress. One can't help but assume he was needle in hand when he wrote that one.\nHypnotize closes with "Lonely Day" and "Soldier Side," two of the most sedate and straightforward songs System of a Down has ever put to tape. The record's final notes dovetail with Mezmerize's opening ones, a la Pink Floyd's The Wall. It's tempting to compare System's effort with that of Waters, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright: both double albums, ambitious in scope, detailed in structure, rich in production, impeccable in execution and both likely to hold up to repeated listens for years to come.