Mesmerize and Hypnotize: the 20th Anniversaries
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on June 18, 2025, 8:21 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the 20th anniversary of Mesmerize and Hypnotize, the fourth and fifth albums by American alternative metal band System of a Down, and, to date, their most recent two albums.
Mesmerize and Hypnotize were recorded during the same studio sessions, but released several months apart, akin to how Metallica recorded Load and Reload during the same sessions, or how Guns 'n' Roses recorded Use Your Illusion I and II during the same sessions, and these albums demonstrated an evolution of the band's sound. While SoaD's previous three albums all followed a very similar formula, these two albums saw the band experimenting and exploring new styles and ideas. The anger and defiance of their previous albums are still very much present in these two, but Mesmerize and Hypnotize also contained numerous songs with quieter, more melodic passages, including Soldier Side, Old School Hollywood, Hypnotize, and Lonely Day. Also, Daron Malakian had a much greater role as secondary vocalist to Serj Tankian; on the previous albums, Malakian only occasionally provided vocals, but, on these albums, Malakian sang backing vocals on nearly every song, and was even the lead vocalist on several songs, such as Lonely Day and She's Like Heroin. An even further example of the band expanding their horizons was with their lyrics; Tankian wrote the majority of the lyrics their previous albums, but Malakian was much more strongly involved with the writing of the lyrics on these albums, as made evident with the nature of the lyrics; while the band still spoke against social and political injustices, these two albums contained numerous songs that had more personal and introspective lyrics, reflecting upon internal matters and their own personal conflicts.
Mesmerize and Hypnotize are, to date, System of a Down's final two albums, as the members disbanded shortly after releasing them, but the band has reformed, and is still touring, at the present time, but they have not yet released a new album, which is very disappointing, but they did recently release two new songs, which both were amazing, so I am maintaining hope that they shall eventually produce a new studio album, at some point.
What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about this year being the 20th anniversary of Mesmerize and Hypnotize? I certainly am eager to hear your thoughts, on this subject?
legendofa says... #2
I got back into System of a Down a couple years ago. Learning about Armenian history and culture made songs like Holy Mountains and the two new songs (Protect the Land and Genocidal Humanoidz) have a lot more meaning. Cigaro and Vicinity of Obscenity are straightforward (heavily NSFW, whether or not they actually mean anything) fun.
June 18, 2025 9:32 p.m.