Sunday, May 24, 2009

Scars On Broadway

Post #61
When System of a Down announced they would take a hiatus after headlining Ozzfest in '06 it left many of their fans wondering what the band members would do. Would they simply take time off and enjoy an extended vacation having become successful rock-stars? Quietly take their time to work on another album without pressure from a record company's deadline? Or maybe pursue other projects? In this case it would turn out to be the pursuit of solo-projects.

Serj Tankian was the first to release a solo-album (see my review in an earlier post). Daron Malakian would form a new band and call it Scars On Broadway, bringing Jon Dolmayan from System Of A Down with him on drums. Like Serj's "Elect The Dead", "Scars On Broadway" retains many elements of System's sound, though neither project sounds exactly like their previous band.

Some may say that "Scars" sounds like it's missing something (the presence of Serj's vocals), however in many ways this new band offers the chance to hear a different side of Daron Malakian's musical influence. Most of the album carries a vibe that is more hard-rock and less metal. His lyrics still pull no punches, taking shots at many political and social issues. Though part of me also feels like this album could benefit from some of the vocal tag-teams between Daron & Serj that are employed on the System Of A Down albums, I still find the music from Scars On Broadway is worth checking out. It should satisfy many System fans who are waiting for them to make a come-back.

The songs I would recommend:
-Serious
-Funny
-Insane
-Stoner Hate
-Babylon
-ENEMY
-3005

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