Nu-Metal Cuisine: Korn Koffee and Hot Dog Flavored Water
November 22, 2005. I leapt off the school bus and opened the front door of my childhood home in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, to see my older sister standing next to our family boom box, having recently returned from a trip to FYE.
“Ellie, you have to hear this one song,” she said as I giddily ran over to her. The song queued up was “Vicinity of Obscenity,” the ninth track of System of a Down’s fifth studio album, Hypnotize. It’s a collage for the ears that merges smooth funk, Zappa-esque silliness, and loud, grating riffs that my mom calls “headache music.” I was in love.
The endless refrain—“Banana banana banana banana terracotta, banana terracotta terracotta pie, BANANA BANANA BANANA BANANA TERRACOTTA, BANANA TERRACOTTA TERRACOTTA PIE”—blared...