Toxicity cover

Toxicity

Released

Released a week before the world changed, System of a Down’s second screed took a snapshot of American exceptionalism at the turn of the millennium: the prison-industrial complex, drug addiction, hidden CIA-funded wars. It sounded like nothing else at the time — or even now. Nominally nu-metal but more of a hypercharged distillation of Mr. Bungle’s bizarro-thrash, Serj Tankian’s schizophrenic screeching and Daron Malakian’s playful mind-bending prog shred immediately set them apart from the Limp Bizkits of the world. The dazzling “Chop Suey” and “Aerials” come very close to absolving KoRn’s sins and making baggy-pants metal worth it.

Jeff Treppel

Recommended by

Suggestions
Aviary cover

Aviary

Julia Holter
Dark Star Safari cover

Dark Star Safari

Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer, Dark Star Safari, Erik Honoré, Jan Bang
Empath cover

Empath

Devin Townsend
FORGET cover

FORGET

Xiu Xiu
Powertrip cover

Powertrip

Monster Magnet