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.
