Smart, witty, and on point, Malakian and Scars on Broadway continue the SOAD and RATM tradition of speaking out while rocking out.
When Rage Against the Machine abdicated as leaders of the type of speak truth to power rock that few bands ever engaged in so eloquently, System of a Down appeared primed to take over that role. For a while they succeeded, producing some of the most articulate protest rock albums since the first RATM album. Peaking with Mezmerize and Hypnotize, which seamlessly flowed into a perfect double album, SOAD hefted the torch of thinking man’s alt-metal. Then it all ended. SOAD frontman Serj Tankian carried forth and continued to fight the good fight, but his solo career has been a hit and miss affair. SOAD guitarist, Daron Malakian, also carried forth and on albums with his post-SOAD band, Scars on Broadway, has also put up a good fight. Scars on Broadway is easily the better sounding of the two offshoots of SOAD, even if the lyrics aren’t as strong as Tankian’s, in his solo efforts, have been. Malakian and Scars on Broadway exceed Tankian in the pure adrenalized punch of guitar rock that straddles metal, punk, and central Asian sounds though. Scars’ new album, Addicted to The Violence, is the closest Malakian has gotten to recreating the purposeful punch of sound and lyric that SOAD delivered with every album, and in the process ended up crafting the best alt-metal/hard rock album of the year.
Malakian has a penchant for shocking lyrics that often appear to be nonsensical. “Satan Hussein” (roughly translated as “handsome,” “good,” or “beautiful” “adversary”) continues this tradition with lyrics that are an absurd mixture of grossly sexual innuendo mixed with Biblical language (“Thou shalt not kill”) along with in your face call outs to the world’s three major Abrahamic religions. The song is an absurdist reaction to the insanity that extremists in all three religions inflict upon society and lives up to the old adage that “insanity is the only sane reaction to an insane society.” In the thrash/punk, one minute and fifty seven minute burst of brilliance that is “Your Lives Burn,” Malakian gets much less ambiguous, repeating that “The politicians and the media conspire/While your lives burn in the fire” and “Well I’m sick of the left and I’m sick of the right/Clickbait causes the cage fights/Political bias has run amok/Cancel me I don’t give a fuck.” The blazing, wall of guitar sound that is “Imposter” is a little more esoteric in its lyrical content, leaving interpretation open, like most great art does. The song is the pulsing, ear bursting, pounding heart of the album musically. It’s on “Destroy The Power” where Malakian puts it all together. Smart rhymes and cutting lyrical witticisms propel the album over the artistic top here. Title track and album closer, “Addicted to The Violence” recalls the poignancy of Hypnotize’s “Soldier Side” and sums up the sound and theme of the album succinctly.
Clocking in at a tight 37 minute overall runtime, Addicted to The Violence is a smart, quick jab to the evils of the current political and societal situation worldwide, but you can totally enjoy it without considering the point of the lyrics or the album’s themes if you want. Actually paying attention to what Malakian is saying might not be a bad idea though. Rarely do we get the lucky invitation to rock, react, resist, and revel in great music, all at the same time, as powerfully as Malakian allows us to here.
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