System Of A Down - System Of A Down (1998)

Ideated from: the digital crate digging of pre-Napster MP3 sharing.

If you’d asked me in the late 90s, I would have said I’d stopped listening to metal, and it was kind of true. I was long past the stuff I listened to as a kid, and I wasn’t paying attention to the sea change of extreme music that was happening. But looking back, I always gravitated to the heavier end of alt-rock: Sugar, Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, Soundgarden. What finally made me acknowledge that I wasn’t being honest with myself was hearing this gem. It reminded me that I still really dug a good head-crushing riff, and I started to notice all the really interesting things that were still coming out of the genre.

SOAD emerged from the LA underground, building a fierce attack that incorporated alt-metal, hardcore, and some of the Armenian music of the band’s heritage. Singer Serj Tankian is a first rate vocal talent and throws his voice into so many contortions it sounds like there might be three different singers. This first record is produced by Rick Rubin, who does a great job of letting the band shine through without adding a lot of embellishment. The result is snappy, tight, and vicious. There isn’t a track on here that you want to skip.

Tracks I liked

Sugar - sounds like a demented carnival

Spiders - a good build and a strong vocal performance

War? - not sure if djent was really a thing yet in 1998, but this is a pretty good example of it.