Album Review: Serj Tankian - Harakiri

It seems with each album, Serj Tankian aims to distance himself a little further from System Of A Down. 2010's Imperfect Harmonies was a strange misstep in his solo career, but Harakiri sees Tankian falling into line with a punk rock-lite sound overflowing with verbose lyricism, some of which comes across as nonsensical.

When Tankian lets his voice loose, like on the insistent ballad, Butterfly, he really soars. It's impossible to not get caught up in his enthusiasm, his sheer belief in every single word he is singing, and some of those words, like “egocentric persuasions”, are not easy to pull off. The themes are standard Tankian fare: politics, the environment, occasionally love, all sung with the passion of a man who is committed to delivering a message. Subtlety isn't really a strong point though, with tunes like Occupied Tears rhyming 'care' with 'fair' whilst bemoaning the suffering of young children caught in warfare. Yet this is how Tankian performs, his need to communicate a point that has oft come at the price of lyrical beauty. It sounds clumsy, but there's stoic belief underpinning every word. The songs each climax and drift away masterfully, throwing in key changes that Tankian climbs with little trouble.

The title track is a clear standout, aggressive guitars and percussion slowly building around Tankian's warbling words of “they crowned the sun”. As he repeats the words angrily towards the end, one realises that Tankian is well on his way to crafting near-perfect rock standards. Harakiri is Tankian back on form and moving ahead in his quest to be a messenger to the masses.