Three 65, Day 52
System Of A Down, Toxicity

Combining the genre-hopping fluidity of Mr. Bungle, the political angst of Rage Against The Machine, and the full-on metal attack of Slayer, System Of A Down are one of the few "nu-metal" bands that sounds like they're actually evolving the heavy metal scene.

I bought Toxicity when it first came out, and I had my reservations. I hadn't liked their first album so much; "Sugar" was a great song, but I thought the band's reach exceeded its grasp. Not so on Toxicity. Here, the band is fully in control of both its sound and its ambition.

The album starts off with the furious "Prison Song," which features the unforgettable couplet "All research and successful drug policy shows that treatment should be increased / And law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences" (try fitting that to a 4/4 beat) and rightly takes the American penal system to task.

From there, it's off to the races. The album doesn't slow down until track 6 (the excellent, bipolar "Chop Suey"), with thrashing guitars, wild drumming, and the insane vocals of Serj Tankian, whose range is almost as broad as Mike Patton's. Even the slower songs (the title track, "Aerials") that show up towards the opposite end of the record are among the finest metal recorded in this century.

Unfortunately, this would be the last good System Of A Down album, for one reason and one reason only: They let one of the guitarists sing on the follow-up. Sure, Serj Tankian sings as well, but the guitarist in question, Damon Malakian, should not be allowed near a microphone. Ever. Compared to the full throttle roar of Tankian, Malakian sounds like a whiny little brother. After a lengthy hiatus, the band has returned; please, please, PLEASE keep the whiny little prick away from the mic.