Toxicity is a tour de force, bursting at the seams with a roaring intensity that’s so infectious it’s almost impossible to avoid nodding or tapping along as you listen. This is System Of A Down at the absolute top of their game. They handle the juxtaposition of the heavy elements and the more melodic, contemplative moments with consummate ease, all the while infusing the sound with a groove that ties everything together perfectly. Vocalist Serj Tankian most clearly embodies this stylistic freedom as he jumps fluidly between guttural growls and full bodied operatic vibrato and everything in between, with barely a pause for breath. The highest praise that I can give this album, is that it is unmistakably System Of A Down. No one else is could do what they do, and to do it as well as they do here, is a very fine thing indeed.

Review requested by Rob, one of our loyal readers.