Serj Tankian, 'Imperfect Harmonies' (Serjical Strike/Reprise)

REVIEWSSerj Tankian, ‘Imperfect Harmonies’

SPIN Rating:4 of 10
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Label: Serjical Strike/Reprise

August 23 2010, 11:41 AM ET
by christopherschultz

For his second solo album, System of a Down frontwonk Serj Tankian again coils his adenoidal, megaphonic vibrato around jagged art-metal, further exploring love in the time of "corporatocracy." After toying with the Auckland Philharmonia(2009's Elect the Dead Symphony), Tankian fully embraces orchestral arrangements on these paranoid anthems -- string-drenched, bombastic, willfully pompous, and composed with the subtlety of video-game end credits. Imperfect Harmonies plays as if Frank Zappa had lived to experience the glories of the Crystal Method, Ozzfest, George W. Bush, and Final Fantasy X.