System of a Down - System of a Down (1998) Reviews

System of a Down were one of the first Metal bands I really got into, and as such they were a pretty influential act for me. Even at the time, I never worshipped them or anything, but I did find them to be pretty great with some absolutely stellar songs. As I’ve matured, I find myself listening to the self-titled debut all the way through for the first time in… God, maybe 10 years? And it’s really not aged well. It’s still got two fantastic songs on it, but there is sooo much filler. Not to mention, it gets substantially weaker near the end.

The album is lacking in just about every department except for creativity and uniqueness. Riffs are simple and forgettable, with few leads at all, mostly relying on standard rhythm guitarwork. System of a Down have an amazing rhythm section in both Shavo and Dolyman, each having a very unique style that get tons of focus. Except, here, they didn’t have that style yet. They just sounded like run of the mill rhythm musicians.

The album feels way too long, but it’s only 40 minutes. No doubt thanks to most of the 13 tracks being unmemorable, outstaying their welcome and meandering nowhere. Some of the lyrics are alright, but there’s also a lot of cryptic word-salad and goofiness (not that they ever outgrew that).

Overall, it’s just not a great record. It’s fine. But the years have not been kind to it in my ears. I feel like this one gets way too much credit just because of the band’s legacy and because it’s “quirky.”

I was very late to get on the System Of A Down train if I’m being honest. When they made their mark on the global metal scene in the first part of the 2000’s I was still very much entrenched in the electronic music scene that took me away from my metal roots for a good decade so (even though I’d seen them perform live on the main stage at a Big Day Out Festival in Sydney during the peak of their early 2000’s popularity) I didn’t really understand what they were all about until well after they’d already called it quits. It was their legendary 2001 sophomore album “Toxicity” that finally saw me standing up & paying attention & it’s proved to have the strength & endurance to make a lasting impression on me in the many years since. The submission of SOAD’s 2005 fourth album “Mezmerize” as a The Gateway clan feature release in May 2022 only saw my opinion on the band’s merits being further consolidated as it’s another high quality piece of work. At no stage have I ventured back to explore the SOAD's other works until now though & it seems like a bit of a gap in my metal knowledge to be honest so I’ll be rectifying that oversight in the coming weeks.

System Of A Down’s self-titled debut album isn’t all that different to their later releases from a stylistic point of view to tell you the truth & if you enjoy “Toxicity” then you’ll likely find a reasonable level of gratification here too as the same mix of elements was already in play. What we have here is a quirky & intentionally off-the-wall approach to alternative metal that occasionally steps right over into nu metal territory for a song or two. There’s a noticeable hardcore punk backbone to this music that is really the source of a System Of A Down’s addictive electricity while their penchant for a bit of controlled weirdness was already clearly evident, particularly during the back end of the record. Front man Serj Tankian’s general insanity is offset by a distinctive, versatile & quite piercing & powerful delivery that never comes close to repetition or boredom while the crunchy hardcore-driven power chord riffs & bursts of thrashy aggression solidify SOAD’s credentials as a dangerous & potent force to be reckoned with.

In saying all that though, I don’t find “System of a Down” to be as appealing as “Toxicity” or “Mezmerize” & it’s the quality of the song-writing that’s the differentiator here. You can see that very obviously when you hear the one-two punch of the two clear highlight tracks in “Suggestions” & “Spider” (my personal favourite & the most rocky & accessible number on the album with it’s hints at a Tool influence) as the rest of the album is clearly not at the same level of memorability or class as those two inclusions. There’s not many failures as such though with only the short & overly quirky “CUBErt” not hitting an acceptable level of appeal for me personally but I don’t think there’s any doubt that the quality trendline sits a touch lower with this album than it did with the other SOAD records I’m familiar with. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel about the remaining SOAD releases given that they’re perhaps not quite as widely celebrated as this one which I regard as an entertaining, well executed & generally fun alternative metal album that will unfortunately very likely drift off into my past without much fanfare with me reaching for other SOAD releases when I feel the need to scratch that particular itch.

It's 1998, and with nu metal slowly getting its footing and revitalizing what was, at that point, a dying metal scene, there's no denying that amongst the rap metal hybrid acts such as Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine, and the teenage angst ridden beats of Papa Roach and Korn, there was one band who had a unique sound of their own, and that band was Spineshank.

Just kidding.

System of a Down's self-titled debut album is literally all over the place, from calm to erratic in a heartbeat. It's raw and aggressive, yet at times can be soothing and melodic, whilst maintaining a take-no-prisoners "fuck the world" attitude. It's dirty, gritty, and full of rage and spite. Certainly not a record for the weak-hearted.

Vocalist Serj Tankian has expertly managed to blend all kinds of singing, from melodic clean vocals to shouting, a wide range of eccentric falsetto, something considerably theatrical, and what can only be described as "vocal effects", it could be seen as an acquired taste, but it's certainly unique! And his vocals are perfectly backed by Daron Malakian's guitars. Punchy, heavy and relentless. Frantically shifting from crunchy riffs to odd, out-of-tune bends and licks. It's a recognizable style that very few have been able to replicate.

Highlights to look out for include 'Suite-Pee', 'Know', 'Ddevil' (nope, that wasn't a typo!), 'Peephole' and of course the classic, 'Sugar'.

As a whole, this is a cracking debut. It shows a band with incredible chemistry and potential (which they would certainly live up to), and the only real problem with it today is that it seems a bit dated and overshadowed by what the band would go on to release later in their careers.