"Holy Mountains" is the 8th song on the album Hypnotize

Hypnotize (album)

The album was initially going to start with a Middle Eastern style instrumental track entitled "Hezze", which Malakian stated was one of his favorite songs on the record prior its release. It was dropped at the last minute because the group wanted to open the album with a heavy song and because the...

. The song lyrics are about the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 (modern day Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

) government in 1915. The lyrics contain many references to Armenia: The Aras River is a river that passes through Armenia, and The Holy Mountains is a reference to Mount Ararat

Mount Ararat

Mount Ararat is a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey. It has two peaks: Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat .The Ararat massif is about in diameter...

.

It has an intro very similar to "Aerials

Aerials (song)

"Aerials" is a single by the Alternative band System of a Down. It was released in 2002 from the album Toxicity, which earned the band its second Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2003...

", making a live medley between the two songs. It is in the key of D flat minor, is in 4/4, and has a very complex drum pattern in some parts.