If you buy just one album this year by an Armenian-American avant-metal band ... well, you'll still be missing one.

Mezmerize, the first album in four years from L.A. foursome System of a Down, is also their first of two discs this year. The other -- Hypnotize -- is due in November. And if it's even half as intense and insane as this 36-minute conniption fit of ferocity and freakiness, the return of Old Man Winter won't be so bad.

Helmed by producer Rick Rubin, the 11-cut Mezmerize might be the sharpest and most potent work of the band's career, with massive riffs, huge choruses, thundering beats and a guitar sound razor-sharp enough to slice off the top of your head.

Even better: On top of all that aggression, there's still plenty of the band's trademark absurdity. Guitarist and chief songwriter Daron Malakian's arrangements are ADD masterpieces that gene-splice everything from metal and punk to surf and Armenian folk. Plus he's got one helluva crazed shriek that complements singer Serj Tankian's wobbly Jello Biafran yowl quite nicely.

Toss in some political lyrics laced with sardonic symbolism ("My c-- is much bigger than yours") and enough '70s-rock harmonies to make Freddie Mercury jealous, and you've got a band that qualifies as the missing link between Frank Zappa and Rage Against the Machine. And in Mezmerize, you've got the first half of what could very well be one of the year's most indispensible double-plays.

Track Listing:

1. Soldier Side - Intro
2. B.Y.O.B.
3. Revenga
4. Cigaro
5. Radio/Video
6. This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song
7. Violent Pornography
8. Question!
9. Sad Statue
10. Old School Hollywood
11. Lost in Hollywood