Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway, Dictator, Album Review
Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway
Dictator
Album Review
After what I would've thought to be quite a scarce period for music in the form of October, the sheer amount of 2018 music that I've discovered over the last week or so has been overwhelming in comparison. And although the latest album by Daron Malakian's Scars On Broadway was actually released in July of this year, I have seemed to be making a name for myself as Mr late to the party, only discovering it last Thursday.
The appeal of this album that drew me into listening to it was of course Daron Malakian; guitarist and vocalist to the legendary System of a Down. Even on the very first dabbling over the tracks, I was very impressed with how Malakian had managed to keep the aesthetic of S.O.A.D well and truly alive, even without the help of its vocalist and frontman, Serj Tankien. Malakian had very cleverly tailored his vocals to essentially fill both roles and I believe that he pulls it off very effortlessly.
This album (named "Dictator") is very similar to S.O.A.D's music both in instrumentation and political outrage in the lyrics. And while I am thrilled to have this as a very big System fan, I can't help but worry about whether this album will be able to stand the test of time for very long as there isn't an awful lot to set this album apart. Needless to say however, this album is still incredibly entertaining and very energetic.
The first two tracks of the album; "Lives" and "Angry Guru" are somewhat similar in melody and rhythm but both are full of energy and kick the album off with a bang. "Lives" has this very catchy guitar riff for its respective chorus and some good vocal melodies throughout. However, the way that the choruses and verses are essentially repeated throughout a 4 minute period lead me to feel like the song sort of overstays it's welcome a tiny bit. In short (forgive the pun), I would possibly feel better about the song if it wasn't as long. As for "Angry Guru", it is still quite repetitive (but not as much as "Lives" grant it). This along with that really cool and bubbly sounding guitar solo helped me prefer "Angry Guru" over track number 1, but I unfortunately felt that it still just about fell short of being a really good track.
The same thankfully won't be said about the third track; the album's title track because it is definitely a really good track. Holding nothing back with its instantly quick and heavy guitar riff, which sounds even better when paired with Malakian's vocals in the later choruses. The whole thing just has this sense of urgency and crisis which I think is very fitting with the lyrical topic of war and oppression. The only criticism I have is that the verse's lyrics are a bit simplistic and repetitive. But the remaining parts of the songs make up for it in spades with its atmosphere and heaviness.
Following this, "Fuck and Kill" is a very interesting and furthermore, a very memorable track. Starting off with kind of a Tool sounding riff paired with this awkward keyboard melody which gives the track atmosphere a disturbing yet ironically silly tone. After the first lyrical segment of the song, it then explodes into a completely mosh-worthy and punk-ish breakdown. I also really like how the rhythm slows into a much more sludgy and gritty melody for the choruses. This song has a lot of character amongst the rest and deserves to be one of my favourites on the album.
The next track "Guns Are Loaded" is a much moodier track with a much more mellow rhythm. And while I can appreciate it as being a nice departure from the sheer energy that was pumped into the first four tracks, it was exactly this that kind of made me have trouble really getting into the track without feeling a little distant from it. For me, I think the track is just a little too dreary and a little too slow for my personal liking.
I also felt a similar level of dissonance towards the following track "Never Forget" but for a completely different reason. With this track, it just feels like its trying too hard to be an energetic track which ultimately makes it feel a little goofy. While there are parts of the track that I really enjoyed such as the electronic organ and the choppy drum beats, my initial hype towards the track died down very quickly.
"Talkin Shit" while being a somewhat standard song, has a very solid level of rhythm, some really good vocal melodies and a really groovy guitar riff to boot. This is one of the more mellow sounding tracks that also sound very engaging and a little poetic as well. Its definitely fair to say that I like this track a lot.
"Till the End" is unfortunately one of the more mellow sounding tracks that doesn't sound as engaging to me. Being the longest song on the album, I feel that the track was just far too dreary. Even the guitar riffs felt very flaccid at points and there just isn't enough going for it to be a track that Im really going to remember.
Following this however is one that I definitely will remember. "We Won't Obey" has an really layered and complex rhythm in its verses, making it one of the most engaging and adrenaline-filled track on the entire album! Its just so incredibly catchy and is lyrically political but in a very accessible fashion, which I think can be a bit hit or miss but in this case it is a hit, an absolute hit!
"Sickening Wars" has a little dash of groove in its vocal style, which almost gives me a sense of either paying homage to or poking fun at artists that are overly Rock'n'Roll. There are also some pretty good lyrics and an engaging rhythm.
"Gie Mou "My Son"" is a very atmospheric and very somber instrumental between the previous track and the final one. There are some very creative uses of guitar in this track which I can always appreciate. In fact, this instrumental proves to be better than a lot of the albums other tracks in my opinion.
And finally, the album does end on a high note with its last song; "Assimilate". Malakian really flaunts his Serj Tankien style lyrical wordplay to the point where you could argue that he sounds more like Serj than himself in the verses. Furthermore, the lyrics are very poetic and there are a lot of them crammed into each verse thanks to the vocal pacing. Malakian also goes all out in the choruses as well, using up the last of his outrage with every word. You can really feel the passion in this track especially, which is something that I really love about it.
All in all, the album certainly has its high and low points, but what it has managed to do overall has resulted in a very solid effort nevertheless. I look forward to seeing if and how Malakian's Scars On Broadway will progress in the future.
Thank you for reading,
BBP
Comments
Post a Comment