Metal Reviews

Well, in honor of me buying and enjoying Toxicity today, I thought I'd poll everybody on how they feel about SOAD. Judging from Toxicity, I think they're pretty good. I don't even know why they're labeled "nu-metal" since there's really nothing "nu" about them. They're basically what the Dead Kennedys would sound like if they were a metal band.

Miss. While their songs sound cool at first, you eventually realize that they have the same problem as Cannibal Corpse, namely, that all their riffs sound pretty much the same.

Plus I really dislike the new album thanks mainly to Daron Malakian.

Agreed with Dead Machine, mostly.. but Toxicity does stand up as a good CD, I still listen to it from time to time.

They have some cool songs but on a whole they are a miss.

obviously a hit

pretty cool

i have never heard them compared to the dead kennedys before but that is a pretty good comparision

Not all music is about riffs, good riffs is nice, but it by itself does not make or break sort of speak bands and albums.

I kind of think of them as a sillier, happier, crazier Rage Against the Machine.

That's true, but riffs are a huge part of metal music. If you can't write good riffs, then usually your metal music won't be very good.

Of course, there are exceptions, but I don't happen to think that System of a Down is one of them.

I kind of think of them as a sillier, happier, crazier Rage Against the Machine.[/quote]

which is excactly the way i think of them, although, rage are better!

Just tried some samples of Dead Kennedys and you are right there are a lot of similarities.

ok, your description is just GOOD !

and indeed Serj has similarities with the great Jello Biafra....

ho, btw, I voted HIT too... SOAD are (if you call them so) the finest NU-Metal act around (and maybe the only one actually)... too bad their latest album is their weakest... :(

RATM is far superior to SOAD. At least in my opinion.

They are on equal levels of suckage. I voted miss. I liked their first album when it came out, then I discovered that REAL metal shits all over this stuff. I do give them points for originality though! And stop soiling the mighty DK by mentioning SOAD in the same breath. That is just pure treason.

I do not consider RATM a metal band. I DO consider SOAD a metal band. IMO they are both excellent, but RATM clinch it, being as they are one of the very finest groups ever to grace the heavy rock arena.

And regarding the DK's: I had never considered a direct comparison before, but now it's been mentioned, I can see a great deal of similarities here. Especially in the vocal deliveries, which sound different but are delivered in the same kind of spirit, if that makes any sense.

East Bay Ray>Daron Malakian

It's a holiday in Armenia, Where people dress in black. :twisted:

Believe it or not, I think the "same-sounding songs" on Toxicity actually add to the album more than detract from it. It's obvious the band was trying to make one song flow into the next so that the entire album was like one giant, complex song. To do that, you kind of have to make them sound alike. And surprisingly, the band pulled this off quite well.

One thing I don't hear in SOAD is their "jazz influences" save for some of the drumwork. Could somebody tell me any other areas where they're influenced by jazz?

Honestly I don't think they are. I think a lot of people in metal journalism hear something that sounds slightly "odd", and automatically interpret this as a "jazz influence". :roll:

In some cases: Ephel Duath, Meshuggah, Solefald, TDEP etc this is pertinent, but not in the case of SOAD, in my opinion.

We can agree to disagree on this, then.



They don't have jazz influences, and people who tell you they do are liars. A very little bit of the drumwork could be considered slightly jazzy, and that's it.

Small miss.

While I can listen to them, I really can't see myself ever getting up, going over to the CD rack, picking up the album, walking all the way over to the CD player, opening the box, opening the tray, putting the CD in and pressing play without thinking of something I'd rather be listening to in that time.

Plus some of their songs just plain suck.