Not A Political Band

Songs are like people. Or so said System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian when explaining why the creative group decided to release two studio albums six months apart, instead of, say, a double disc or two albums simultaneously. "We thought about doing a double record," said Odadjian, calling from his home in Los Angeles. "Then we decided the attention span of kids and people nowadays is not that strong. It's like you meeting 30 people at once or you meeting 12 people at once. You'll remember those 12 people more than you would the 30. And those people are songs." Those people are also very surly and bi-polar with multiple personalities and quirky demeanors. As for the albums, Mesmerize was released last spring while Hypnotize is due out this November. The double release is somewhat of a ballsy approach for this alt metal band that scored a breakthrough in 2001 with the release of Toxicity. While nearly four years passed between studio projects, considered a lifetime for a lesser independent and confident band than System of a Down, the outfit's following remained loyal. Lead by enigmatic frontman Serj Tankian, System of a Down walks a fine line between melodic moments of bliss and toxic fits of rage, all of which speak to Odadjian on an artsy level. "The music is creating a painting," Odadjian said. "And our band to me is an abstract painting with all of our crazy time changes and arrangements that are not pop arrangements." System of a Down has combined such unpredictable music styles with lyrical content that eschews metal tendencies of obligatory doom and gloom. Sure, the picture may not be pretty but it comes across rooted more in social relevance and commentary and less in science fiction and artifice. Considering three of the four band members met at an Armenian high school in Los Angeles, politics, or at least a foreign viewpoint of the world, have always played a key role in the quartet's music. However, don't call the group a political band to Odadjian or you're bound to get an earful regarding responsibility and creative direction. "We're not a political band," Odadjian said. "We're a life band. In the world we live today, politics plays a major role in every one of our lives so of course we're going to speak about politics but we also speak about sex, drugs, laughing, crying and sadness and death and life, including politics. You don't wake up every morning thinking about how President Bush (expletive) up America. You wake up every morning feeling something different. You might be horny. You might be sad. You might have anxiety." He added, "If you write a song about New Orleans because help didn't come to them from their own country for four days, you're going to speak about that. That's something strong. That's huge, that's big, that's happening now. But that doesn't make us a political band. That makes us a band that raises awareness about certain issues."