Though he possesses one of the most instantly recognizable singing voices in music,
Serj Tankian
has still spent the last five years finding his musical "voice" as a solo artist, steadily working his way out of the shadow of his work fronting nue-prog rockers
System of a Down
. After moving his sound in an increasingly grand direction, an idea that culminated in the singer recasting his debut album with a symphony on
Elect the Dead Symphony
,
Tankian
returns to a more direct rock sound with his third album,
Harakiri
. Filled with political angst, this album feels the most lyrically similar to
SOAD
, with lines like "sucking seeds is pastime" even serving as direct references to "Toxicity" ("eating seeds is a pastime activity"). With its socially conscious, call-to-arms message and frantic, rapid-fire tempo, "Uneducated Democracy" feels like an ideological spiritual successor to that era, and helps to make
an album that will allow fans to draw a nice line between the
's solo work and his time with
. ~ Gregory Heaney