Although I agree that he’s not the most eloquent lyricist, it suits their work. Passion and energy are two things that do indeed come across very well in their music. With simple, furious lyrics it delivers his message as if he was speaking his feelings at the spur of the moment. In that respect, the lyrics are very sincere.
You have a point. Godsmack comes to mind. How would you classify Static-X?
I’m in this camp, as well.
Seems to me that they take themselves way too seriously, so that I don’t have to at all, which is kind of nice.
I miss fauxpas. 
:rolleyes:
Industrial alternative metal.
I’m not sure where this impression comes from. If anything, SoaD takes themselves less seriously than any other current hard rock band I can think of (political messages aside). I mean, we’re talking about a metal band that did a cover of the theme from The Legend of Zelda, complete with improvised lyrics about Link saving Hyrule, here.
Personally, I find the “start/stop” feel of their music to be very appealing. But then, I listen to a lot of punk, where switching tempos and genres between measures is quite common. The abruptness of SoaD’s stylistic switches can be jarring, but it fits with the manic energy of the band.
I’ve heard this accussation leveled at them as well, and I don’t understand it either. Their music seems to indicate that, while they do touch on issues sincerely that are serious to them, a lot of it is clearly fun, with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor. If they are a bunch of humorless prats, it certainly doesn’t come across in their music.
The track immediately following “Chop Suey” on Toxicity is a song about a pogo stick. It’s really hard to go from there to thinking that they’re way too serious.
Of course, I am coming from a black metal background, so…
My brother, who gets into various things on a semi regular basis, was on a pretty heavy SoAD kick for a while, so I got to listen to a ton of songs. I thought they were pretty clever, even when they weren’t trying to make “heavy” socio-political commentary.
I wish I could understand some of their lyrics, though. (I still can’t make out what the heck is being said at the beginning of “F*** the System”, and I once misheard the Link lyrics as: “But Ganon lilies greatly.” :o )
Never cared one way or another about them.
But, their appearance on SNL was hi-larious. The singer’s nasty, out-of-style hairdo was completely stupid, and the Ronnie James Dio-esque vocals of the other guy had me in stitches.
So, now I think they pretty much suck. And uh, yeah, they are numetal whether you want to admit it or not. I certainly wouldn’t put them in a punk or metal or rock and roll category. And, as everyone knows, nu-metal f’n sucks.
I don’t know the name of the songs, since I don’t pay attention to them except to change the station, but some of their vocal gymnastics (for lack of a better term–sort of the way Mariah Carey holds a note through 8 ranges) and seeming over-emoting, is, to me, a turn off. My solution to them, as I mentioned, is to simply change the radio station. Not everyone can be a Tool fan, I suppose. 
See, and I thought that was great! Fun music with big balls. I just don’t really see the connection with Numetal. I hate all the so-called Numetal I’ve heard. SoaD don’t sound like any of those bands to me. Their music is much more cerebral. I mean, it’s incredibly smart music.
I find it interesting to see just how polarized opinions on SoaD are.
It’s called “melisma.” Drives me frickin’ crazy!
Um, so exactly how are you defining nu-metal? The common attributes I’ve seen for that particular genre include:
-rapped vocals (often interspersed with singing)
-turntables + guitar
-less emphasis on guitar solos and more on chugging power chords
-use of samples and other electronics
See: Linkin Park, Staind, the late and unlamented Limp Bizkit, etc.
None of those bands necessarily exhibit all of the above listed attributes, but they all demonstrate some of them. System of a Down exhibits none of them. No rapping, no turntable scratches, lots of guitar and drum soloing, and little or no sampling. Regardless whether you like them or not, calling System of a Down “nu-metal” requires bending the definition of the genre to include every vaguely metal band of the last ten years.
Maybe in my mind the Pixies influence was overblown. There are some ways that SoaD remind me of them, but I don’t know how Pixies specific they are…
The choppiness reminds me of the Pixies. The song structures remind me of the cool structure of Break My Body. And the lyrics really remind me of the Pixies. The weird religious and absurd imagery are kind of similar.
I’ll concede that they aren’t Nu-Metal, but they are involved with the Nu-Metal scene, like the way they appear at the Nu-Metal festivals. So there is a bit of that association in my mind.