October 2020 Feature Release - The Gateway Edition

It's now October which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Gateway is 2001's classic sophomore effort from Californian alternative metallers System Of A Down entitled "Toxicity".

https://metal.academy/releases/167

I came to this record very late in the piece as it was released during my DJing days during the 2000's so it was 2009 before I had the pleasure of wrapping my ears around it & I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. I thought I was in for something with significantly less weight & substance but what I ended up receiving was an enjoyable, fresh & vibrant sounding brand of quite heavy alternative metal with a broad crossover appeal built around decent hooks & a general feeling of quality. There's not a weak track amongst this lot & songs like "Forest", "Psycho" & "Aerials" sit amongst my very favourite examples of the subgenre still to this day. "Toxicity" should be essential listening for all members of The Gateway & I'd encourage the casual listener from other clans to give it a chance as well because it may just surprise you.

4/5

SOAD are one of the few groups that made nu-metal cool back in the day. For a genre that is pretty reviled by the metal community in hindsight, this band's blend of Alternative/nu-metal along with mild engagements with oriental Armenian music was very cool. And not only that, the lyrics, provided by Serj Tankian, were very invigorating. On Toxicity, the band took this up a notch and created their most commercially successful record and most critically favoured. And while I personally believe that Mezmerize is better, that does not leave Toxicity a slouch.

The tunes are quite fruitful for a nu-metal album and the the tonal quality is very progressive for the time. It is a record that has stood the test of time and is one of this subgenre's shining beacons in a very long and dark cavern. 

7/10

Hate is a strong word, so I'll say that I strongly dislike System of a Down. It's been one of my hot musical opinions for quite a while, and sadly it hasn't changed when revisiting Toxicity. I can see the appeal since, like Saxy said, SOAD reinvigorated the Nu-Metal genre in a way that only they could have. Their songs are manic and crazy, keeping the listener on their toes at all points with their constant swaps between stripped down, but still complex melodic sections and crunchy chug sections. 

There's only one problem with their style though; I find it incredibly, unbearably annoying. I can't point to any individual part of SOAD's sound and say it's objectively bad, like I don't think that Serj is a bad vocalist and their riffs hit pretty hard, but something strange happens when you put it all together. It's incredible how much willpower it takes me to listen to Toxicity cover to cover, since there's always this urge to just skip to something else with none of the riffs or sections getting any sort of reaction out of me. 

"Chop Suey!" is obviously a classic that's been joked about for almost two decades now, "Aerials" is always a nice one to go back to every now and again, but no matter how many times I try, SOAD can't win me over. I think this'll continue to age well for the people who enjoy it since I doubt any other band will be able to capture the same sort of style as SOAD has, but I'll be seeing myself out now. 

2/5