Serj Tankian

The world of pseudo-metal wept a sea of ingot tears when superstars System Of A Down decided to go on indefinite hiatus last year. Unwilling to let his creative juices deplete or his fans down for that matter, front-man Serj Tankian began recording what is now Elect The Dead, a collection of 12 tunes crafted and played, for the most-part, by Tankian. Naturally because of his intense connection with frenetic metal, the majority of this release sounds exactly as one would expect: like System Of A Down minus a few idiosyncrasies. To that extent, all may now breathe a sigh of relief; you have methadone for your System fix. The rest of the world will probably either find this too erratic, annoying or not metal enough. Tracks such as "Empty Walls,” "Money” and "The Unthinking Majority” rarely branch out of the predictable Tankian-ian caterwauling technique, squeaky guitars and a constant state of being almost-but-not-quite in tune. While it’s commendable that Tankian would have the gusto to create what truly is a solo record, one would expect that it might step out of the shadow of his bread and butter band.