8. System Of A Down Prison Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yndfqN1VKhY System Of A Down are notorious for their politically-charged lyrics and unique brand of weirdness, which is mainly why their one of the most volatile, mainstream metal outfits out there. Yet mainstream they now are; amazingly the band that denounced just about every level of government managed to top charts in multiple countries with their second album release, Toxicity. That album went on to receive massive critical acclaim, largely for breathing fresh life into a genre that had been desperately trying to break free from its own nu-metal-induced vegetative state. Prison Song opens the album by throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at its listeners. Instruments stab through sheer silence in chaotic bursts, Serj Tankian is absent at first until he eerily whispers, "They're trying to build a prison", then everything comes stampeding in, with Tankian joining in with such an inhuman howl that you'll barely realise it's him. Before you can settle down, the band shifts time signatures, introducing frenetic pitch-harmonics through the guitars that perfectly compliment the statistical recantations of Serj. Melodic bridges link psychotic, thrash sections together and guitarist Daron Malakian enters with his famously unhinged vocal work. This is just the album's opener.
Jordan Forward
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Eats, drinks, writes – rarely sleeps. Likes: movies, games, football, writing, music and people. Terrified of becoming a real person some day.
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