Flags: Lyrics are included with the album, Contains explicit content
Rating:
Styles: Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Track Picks: "Attack," "Kill Rock 'N Roll," "U-Fig"
Review
It wasn't a lie when System of a Down said the packaging for Mezmerize and Hypnotize would slot together. Released in November 2005, roughly six months after its counterpart, Hypnotize does indeed feature a tri-fold design. But the extra cardboard slotting's a little extraneous, as are some of the sonic parts on both albums. Truth is the motor for System's spazzy, modernist thrash. It drives the boiling rage in Hypnotize's "Attack," "Stealing Society," and "U-Fig"; on "Holy Mountain," it inspires SOAD to transform the sad facts of genocide into the album's most vicious, powerful, and arresting moment. Of course, truth also drives SOAD to make passionate, if slightly screwy, decisions: Serj Tankian's ADD sputter of "eat 'em eat 'em eat 'em eat 'em" and "banana banana banana terracotta" on Hypnotize; Mezmerize's detour into celebrity baseball game outtakes on "Old School Hollywood." These moments are head-scratchers, no doubt, but they're integral to the experience -- System of a Down confound and irritate even as they rock. And it's precisely because of that weird aggression/aggravation dynamic that Mezmerize/Hypnotize is as strong a concept/double album as metal can offer in 2005. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Hypnotize is the fifth album by System of a
Down and the second half of the Mezmerize/Hypnotizedouble album. It was released on November 22, 2005, six months after the release of companion album
Mezmerize. The album was released on both CD and
DualDisc; the latter contains behind-the-scenes footage showing the making of
Mezmerize and Hypnotize, the music videos for the songs "B.Y.O.B." and "Question!", and the entire album in enhanced stereo
(LPCM at 16-bit/48KHz versus the CD standard of 16-bit/44.1KHz). The album case was printed with soy inks on recycled paper.
Inside the booklet the words, "We don't have to cut forests to make paper anymore." can be read.
The artwork is by guitarist/singer Daron Malakian's
father, Vartan Malakian. The packaging for Hypnotize is specially designed to
physically join Mezmerize and Hypnotize together, forming one unified product
with continuous artwork. The additional panel on the Hypnotize slots into the inside of the Mezmerize digipak case, which opens on the left side instead of the right.
According to bassist Shavo Odadjian, the album was originally set to open with an
instrumental track called "Hezze," but was instead dropped entirely in favor of beginning with "Attack." "We wanted to start out
the album really heavy," Odadjian explained. It is expected that "Hezze" will be released sometime in the future on an
EP. [1]
The last track on Hypnotize, "Soldier Side" completes "Soldier Side - Intro", which appears as the opening track on
Mezmerize. In addition to this, the song Lonely Day
(which plays right before Soldier Side) has the same ending as Soldier Side - Intro.
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