System of a Down were the new rock icons until not long ago. The nonpareil signature of the compositions, the frenetic combination of styles in their music, the social engagement of the lyrics and the unique voice of Serj Tankian became their patent. With the huge influence they exerted on the contemporary rock scene it was normal to come a time to draw back for a while for a recapitulation, and to give us one by one projects by each member of the band. Well, the curly singer was the first to present a gift to the thirsty fans. The result, however, is slightly controversial. On one hand, the album offers some wonderful, really wonderful songs in the spirit of the later works by System of a Down (“Baby”, “Lie Lie Lie”). On the other hand, exactly this “in the spirit of” is kind of worrying. Wasn’t the purpose of a solo album to offer something different than the bosom of the main band? The similarity is inevitable of course, but likeness is one thing, and songs to sound like unreleased compositions of the famous quartet is another... Because all the 12 tracks could easily find their place in System’s discography. In this case the logical question comes: Who the hell needs such a project? And yet, the songs actually. Serj promised to release videos for each one of them and before the release of the album we already had an idea what to expect. In general, he didn’t mislead us. The schizophrenically-melodic hotchpotch of “The Unthinking Majority” continues also in “Empty Walls”, as like in “Money” and in “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”, while the politico-social direction of the lyrics covers almost all of them. The politics of the USA in national and global importance is the most common object of the criticism of the Zappa-like frontman, but he also demonstrates a strong position about global problems related with the hunger (“Feed Us”) and natural disasters (“Sky Is Over”). And the singing of Serj is the same as always - emotional and ardent in the aggressive moments, inspiring and passionate in the lyrical compositions, which definitely raises the qualities of “Elect the Dead”. In short, while we are waiting for System of a Down to resurrect, we already have the first full-length pastime. And there’s a proper amount of sweetness in it.