When the title track for Serj Tankian‘s new solo Elasticity EP came out a few weeks ago, I was mostly left feeling disappointed. The despondency came twofold, both from the excellent twin release of Protect The Land and Genocidal Humanoidz from the full System of a Down collective, and just the general feeling of ‘meh’ from the track itself. Will the full length (so to speak) EP provide a greater context to make this critic change his mind?
From long before this release, it has been clear that the general over the top weirdness of System of a Down comes from the mind of Serj Tankian. Listening to the side project from Daron Malakian‘s Scars on Broadway it is abundantly apparent that the straight forward heavy songwriting is Daron‘s forte. As a result I can say I have never really cared much for Serj‘s solo work.
Elasticity starts off with the aforementioned title track. I cannot say I really care any more for it than when I last heard it. I am a huge fan of the weird that SOAD provide. However, it’s the trade off of Daron‘s chunky rhythm work and waiting vocals offsetting Serj‘s trademark vibrato and batshit lyrics that works in a way no-one else can replicate. Here the weird is just simply that – weird.
The biggest disappointment of the whole EP, is that while Serj‘s vocals stand front and centre in glorious fashion, the only other notable entry is the EDM support. The drums have very little impact with an extremely hollow tone. The heavily distorted guitars again just feel hollow. There is a strong sense of melody throughout, but there is really no drive to get this head banging. It feels more like a collection of nice singalong songs that I mostly forget about once I have moved on.
Electric Yerevan closes out the EP with Serj‘s very own version of Prison Song. The sense of world injustice present in System of a Down‘s recent release is spread through the lyrics here and on most the rest of the Elasticity EP. The guitar finally starts to get a sense of tone, but the drums are still largely inaudible. A stronger end to the release. But not enough to leave a lasting impact.
Serj Tankian has certainly let his creativity flow on his Elasticity EP. There is plenty of that patented System of a Down influence flowing through. However, it really just misses any sense of energy, and the overall tone is just far too flat. There is plenty of singalong opportunity, and overall the song writing is ok. But that’s really the best way I can describe this release. Ok. Maybe if these had made their way onto that elusive 6th System of a Down album they could have been great songs?
Score: 5/10
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