System Down
Slave To The System
Slave To The System
(Spitfire)
This composite of Brother Cane and Queensrÿche members also have a little bit of Bad Company in them.
That’s what you get when you not only have a self-titled album, but also a song named for your band (or vice versa). “Slave To The System,” which is their way of asserting independence from corporate music, and the other cuts on Slave To The System all have a familiar macho alt rock ring. Grinding, open-note riffing and the dissonant shrieking of Korn define “Ruby Wednesday,” while Damon Johnson fills the ether with cryptic lyrics (“Rag doll show me the light/Awaken my sleeping life tonight/Rag doll can I see God filling your eyes/And in a panic I pound upon you”). One standout is the divorce lament “Walk The Line,” which pushes hard but can’t shut the door on a union. Their meat and potatoes could use more tender cuts like this.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to stream “Slave To The System.”
