*System of a Down *are creating crazy, gothic rock, which is astoundingly heavy. Hearing this on the radio is truly refreshing after all the crap that is floating around our waves at the moment. This tune could probably be stuck in the *nu-metal *pocket somehow - as most things are these days – but it is mighty difficult to label this as contrived, formulaic, a cash-in/sell-out…

I say this band sound crazy. This is because we begin this semi-epic sonic adventure with a jangly acoustic guitar, which seems harmless enough to the unsuspecting ear. Then they press that button which leads into that astoundingly heavy part of my description. Please do not understand heavy as ‘all-I-can-hear-is-some-odd-fellow-screaming-and-bellowing’ because Serj Tankian *has one of those fantastic voices that really does sing. To you. He leaves the screaming and bellowing to guitarist *Daron Malakian. He does a fine job of it too. This record is supremely gothic sounding as the bass-heavy angst is enormously dark with the cries of “self-righteous suicide” echoing through.

The excellent juxtaposition of melodic *rock and the heavier stuff can be served up as a snack worthy of a pop king. This is a brilliant record from a band that can accurately be described as *loopy.