sneak preview.

Living on the West Coast has it's privileges. One that I've noticed recently is that the iTunes Music Store releases new albums before the Monday/Tuesday cusp. I used to have to wait until Tower or Rasputin's opened at 10:00am on Tuesday to pick up new albums. With iTunes, that experience has gone the way of liner notes and scratched discs.

So I just downloaded the new System of a Down. I've been a fan since the guitar player from my college band ("Dorm Damage") told me about a killer band he saw at Ozzfest back in 1998. If you're unfamiliar with these crazy-ass Eastern European-American hardcore artists, you should probably go backwards from "Toxicity" to the self-titled debut.

"Mezmerize", released today (errr, tomorrow), maintains the haunting melodies of "Toxicity" with equal helping of the metal-up-your-ass from the debut. It's not for everyone, but it's worth a listen.

Oh, and get your tall boots shined up. These guys are going out on a summer tour with The Mars Volta. Holy crap, Batman.