System of a Down
Encyclopedia
System of a Down, also known by the acronym
SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock
band from Southern California
. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian
(lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian
(guitar, vocals), Shavo Odadjian
(bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan
(drums). All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting the Armenian Genocide
of 1915 as well as the ongoing War on Terrorism
.
The band has achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums; three of their studio albums debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance
for the song "B.Y.O.B." On August 13, 2006, the group went on indefinite hiatus, but announced a reunion on November 29, 2010 with several shows planned at European music festivals for the summer of 2011. This tour has continued through the west coast of North America as well as South America, with dates announced throughout the summer.
while children, although because of their eight-year age difference they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio. They formed a band named Soil with Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who later played in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium
) on bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian (another Rose and Alex Pilibos alumnus) as manager, although he eventually joined Soil as rhythm guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio quit the band, feeling that it was not going anywhere.
. Odadjian switched from guitar to bass and passed on his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group
and its founder David “Beno” Benveniste. The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian's and Odadjian's who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.
System of a Down quickly made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released but appeared on file sharing networks around the time of the band's success with Toxicity
about six years later. Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996. At the beginning of 1997, System of a Down recorded their final publicly released demo tape, Demo Tape 3. In mid 1997, drummer Khachaturian left the band because of a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.
The band's first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk ("we're Armenian" in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997. Soon after playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room
the band caught famed producer Rick Rubin
's attention who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997. Unlike the previous demo tapes, however, Demo Tape 4 was made only to be sent to record companies
(although it has since been leaked onto the internet). Rubin signed the group onto his American/Columbia Records, and System of a Down began to record in Rubin's studio, laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album.
Also in 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.
. They enjoyed moderate success as their first singles "Sugar" and "Spiders
" became radio favorites and the music videos for both songs were frequently aired on MTV. After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica
before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest
. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory
and Incubus
before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya
, Mr. Bungle
, The Cat and Incubus providing support.
In November 1998, System of a Down appeared on South Park
's Chef Aid
album, providing the music for the song "Will They Die 4 You?" Near the end of the song Tankian can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" a line that would later be used in the song "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, South Park character Chef
doesn't introduce them as he does for all other artist featured on the record.
System of a Down's former drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian, briefly reunited with the band at a show at The Troubadour in 1999, filling in on vocals for an ill Tankian. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath
song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity
debuted at No.1 on the American and Canadian charts, despite the events of September 11. The album eventually achieved multi-platinum certification and has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks
and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding the album's hit single "Chop Suey!
" The song was taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the album's second single, "Toxicity
". Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" (which earned a Grammy nomination), System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity" and "Aerials
". In May 2006, VH1
listed Toxicity in the No.14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot
throughout the United States and Mexico. Following a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Odadjian was harassed, ethnically intimidated, and was physically assaulted by security guards backstage, who then dragged him out of the venue. Odadjian received medical attention from police and later filed a suit against the security company. Despite the incident, the tour was a success and System of a Down and Slipknot went on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein
in 2001.
In late 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions made their way onto the internet. This collection of tracks was dubbed Toxicity II by fans. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material and subsequently released the final versions of the songs as their third album, Steal This Album!
, which was released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman
's counter-culture book, Steal This Book
as well as a message to those who leaked the songs onto the internet. The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore
as a protest against the War in Iraq.
" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta
and Bad Acid Trip
supporting.
The second part of the double album, Hypnotize
, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at No.1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles
, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX
, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at No.1 in the same year. In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails
and Robert Plant
. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day
" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll
" and "Vicinity of Obscenity
" as their next promo
singles. The band headlined Ozzfest
2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne
opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.
Whereas on System of a Down's previous albums most of the lyrics were written and sung by Tankian and the music was co-written by Tankian and Malakian (and sometimes Odadjian) much of the music and lyrics on Mezmerize/Hypnotize were written by Malakian who also took on a much more dominant role as vocalist on both albums, often leaving Tankian providing keyboards and backing vocals.
Concert footage and interviews with the band concerning the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide
were featured in the 2006 film Screamers
, directed by Carla Garapedian
. An interview with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor of the Genocide, was also included in the film as well as Tankian's and Dolmayan's meeting with (then) Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
during which the two musicians campaigned for the United States government's official recognition of the Genocide. Footage of Tankian and Dolmayan marching with protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. was also used in Screamers.
System of a Down was honored at a University of Southern California
game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity
," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize
." System of a Down's song "Lonely Day
" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman
" by Wolfmother
.
In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest."
May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers
. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.
, which was joined by Dolmayan. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."
Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead
in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album
on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, Indicator, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store. Odadjian pursued his project with RZA
of Wu-Tang Clan
, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN
, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton
's backing band.
Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival
, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival
, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival
and Finland's Provinssirock
. In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "We have no master plan of sorts – we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans."
On March 1, 2011 the band announced they will play several shows in western North America in May and June. The reunion tour commenced on May 10, 2011 in Edmonton
, Alberta.
On May 4, 2011, Brazil
event organiser and promoter Roberto Medina announced that System will be headlining, alongside Guns N' Roses
, his Rock in Rio 2011
festival on October 2 in Rio de Janeiro
.
System's first tour through Mexico and South America began on September 28, 2011 in Mexico City
, ending in Santiago
, Chile
on October 7, 2011. From late February to early March 2012, they will headline five dates at the Soundwave festival. This will be the first visit in Australia
, since 2005.
Asked in October 2011 whether System of a Down will record a new album, drummer John Dolmayan
replied, "We're gonna take it day by day. [...] For the people who are waiting for an album — I know there's a lot of people waiting for an album; I'm waiting for an album just like they are. It's gonna happen when it's right and when we can make something that tops what we've done in the past. Because we don't really wanna rest on our laurels — where what you've done in the past is what you depend on. Well, I don't wanna do that, and I know the rest of the guys don't wanna do that. Instead of resting on our laurels, we wanna throw them away and create something new and specific for this generation that they can say that's their System of a Down."
in System of a Down's music has made it difficult to describe, but System of a Down has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style has variously been termed alternative metal
, alternative rock
, rock, art rock
, experimental rock
, hard rock
, heavy metal
, nu metal
, progressive metal
and progressive rock
. Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene" and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A
7-string guitar
sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet". According to Tankian, "As far as arrangement and everything, [our music] is pretty much pop. To me, System of a Down isn't a progressive band. [...] But it's not a typical pop project, obviously. We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before."
The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolin
s, baritone electric guitar
s, acoustic guitar
s, oud
s, sitar
s and twelve string guitar
s. According to Malakian, he would often write songs in E♭ tuning, which would later be changed to drop C tuning
in order to be performed by the band. Malakian states that "For me, the drop-C tuning is right down the center. It has enough of the clarity and the crisp sound—most of our riffy stuff is done on the top two strings, anyway—but it's also thicker and ballsier."
The band's influences include Middle Eastern music
, Ozzy Osbourne
, Dead Kennedys
, Frank Zappa
, Slayer
, The Beatles
, Deftones
, and Van Halen
. One reviewer claimed that their music encompasses different sounds, from sounding like "Fugazi playing Rush
" to sometimes "tread[ing] close to Frank Zappa territory". Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band." Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down." Odadjian stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."
and MTV awards.
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Chop Suey!" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "Aerials
" || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
|-
| || "B.Y.O.B." || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
|-
| || "Lonely Day
" || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
General
Occasional contributors:
Acronym and initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
(lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian
Daron Malakian
Daron Vartan Malakian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the heavy metal band System of a Down and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative...
(guitar, vocals), Shavo Odadjian
Shavo Odadjian
Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian is an Armenian American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/editor, music producer, and artist/painter. He is best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and occasional songwriter of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down...
(bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan
John Dolmayan
John William Dolmayan is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American songwriter and drummer. He is best known as the drummer of System of a Down. Dolmayan is also the drummer for the band Scars on Broadway and Indicator....
(drums). All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting 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...
of 1915 as well as the ongoing War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
.
The band has achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums; three of their studio albums debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
for the song "B.Y.O.B." On August 13, 2006, the group went on indefinite hiatus, but announced a reunion on November 29, 2010 with several shows planned at European music festivals for the summer of 2011. This tour has continued through the west coast of North America as well as South America, with dates announced throughout the summer.
Soil (1992–1994)
Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, and Shavo Odadjian all attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian SchoolRose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School
Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian SchoolEstablished1969School type privatePrincipalDr. Alina DorianLocation Los Angeles, USAEnrollment1002 students...
while children, although because of their eight-year age difference they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio. They formed a band named Soil with Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who later played in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium
Mt. Helium
Mt. Helium is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formerly known as The Apex Theory. The band has released two studio albums and three extended plays to date.-History:...
) on bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian (another Rose and Alex Pilibos alumnus) as manager, although he eventually joined Soil as rhythm guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio quit the band, feeling that it was not going anywhere.
Demo tapes and signing (1994–1997)
After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian formed a new band, System of a Down. The group took its name from a poem that Malakian had written titled “Victims of the Down." The word "victims" was changed to "system" because Odadjian believed that the alteration would appeal to a much wider audience and also because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved closer to their musical heroes, SlayerSlayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
. Odadjian switched from guitar to bass and passed on his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group
Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group
Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group is an artist development and management company and record label located in West Hollywood, California in the United States. Its current client roster includes Afghan Raiders, Alice in Chains, Coheed and Cambria, Cypress Hill, Deftones, Jackson Guthy, Scars...
and its founder David “Beno” Benveniste. The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian's and Odadjian's who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.
System of a Down quickly made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released but appeared on file sharing networks around the time of the band's success with Toxicity
Toxicity
Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...
about six years later. Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996. At the beginning of 1997, System of a Down recorded their final publicly released demo tape, Demo Tape 3. In mid 1997, drummer Khachaturian left the band because of a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.
The band's first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk ("we're Armenian" in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997. Soon after playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room
Viper Room
The Viper Room is a nightclub located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It was opened in 1993 and was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. The club became known for being a hangout of Hollywood elite, and was the site where actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on...
the band caught famed producer Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
's attention who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997. Unlike the previous demo tapes, however, Demo Tape 4 was made only to be sent to record companies
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
(although it has since been leaked onto the internet). Rubin signed the group onto his American/Columbia Records, and System of a Down began to record in Rubin's studio, laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album.
Also in 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.
System of a Down (1998–2000)
In June 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a DownSystem of a Down (album)
System of a Down is the debut album by American heavy metal band System of a Down, first released in 1998. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on February 2, 2000. Two years later, after the success of Toxicity, it was certified platinum...
. They enjoyed moderate success as their first singles "Sugar" and "Spiders
Spiders (System of a Down song)
"Spiders" is a song by System of a Down from their first album, also named System of a Down. The song was featured on the Scream 3 soundtrack.-Music:...
" became radio favorites and the music videos for both songs were frequently aired on MTV. After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
and Incubus
Incubus (band)
Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya
Puya (band)
-History:Formed under the name Whisker Biscuit in 1988 and originally playing only instrumentals, the band added vocalist Sergio Curbelo in 1992 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they created a mix of salsa and heavy metal with the assistance of Jeff Renza and the Noiz Boiz production...
, Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
, The Cat and Incubus providing support.
In November 1998, System of a Down appeared on South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
's Chef Aid
Chef Aid: The South Park Album
-Episode reference:- Singles :* "Chocolate Salty Balls "CD1# "Chocolate Salty Balls " - Performed By Chef# "Oh Holy Night" - Performed By Eric Cartman...
album, providing the music for the song "Will They Die 4 You?" Near the end of the song Tankian can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" a line that would later be used in the song "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, South Park character Chef
Chef (South Park)
Jerome "Chef" McElroy is a fictional character on the Comedy Central series South Park. He was voiced by Isaac Hayes. A cafeteria worker at the local elementary school in the town of South Park, Colorado, Chef was generally portrayed as more level-headed than the other adult residents of the town...
doesn't introduce them as he does for all other artist featured on the record.
System of a Down's former drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian, briefly reunited with the band at a show at The Troubadour in 1999, filling in on vocals for an ill Tankian. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
Toxicity and Steal This Album! (2001–2003)
On September 3, 2001, System of a Down had planned on launching their second album at a free concert in Hollywood as a "thank you" to fans. The concert, which was to be held in a parking lot, was set up to accommodate 3,500 people, however, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fans showed up. Because of the large excess number of fans the performance was cancelled by police officers just before the group took the stage. No announcement was made that the concert had been cancelled. Fans waited for more than an hour for the group to appear, but when a banner hanging at the back of the stage that read "System of a Down" was removed by security, the audience rushed the stage, destroying all the band's touring gear (approximately $30,000 worth of equipment) and began to riot, throwing rocks at police, breaking windows, and knocking over portable toilets. The riot lasted six hours, during which six arrests were made. The band's manager, David "Beno" Benveniste, later said that the riot could have been avoided if the group had been permitted to perform or had they been allowed to make a statement at the concert regarding the cancellation. System of a Down's scheduled in-store performance the next day was cancelled to prevent a similar riot.The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity
Toxicity (album)
Toxicity is the second album by American heavy metal band System of a Down. Produced by Rick Rubin, Toxicity was released on September 4, 2001 by American Recordings, debuting at #1 on both the United States, with 220,000 copies, and #1 on the Canadian charts...
debuted at No.1 on the American and Canadian charts, despite the events of September 11. The album eventually achieved multi-platinum certification and has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding the album's hit single "Chop Suey!
Chop Suey!
"Chop Suey!" is the first single from System of a Down's second album Toxicity. The single was released in September 2001 and earned the band its first Grammy nomination. The song's working title was "Suicide"; the band members claim the change was not caused by pressure from their record company...
" The song was taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the album's second single, "Toxicity
Toxicity (song)
"Toxicity" is a single by System of a Down, released in 2002. It was originally released on the album of the same name.The writing credit for the song is Malakian/Odadjian/Tankian....
". Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" (which earned a Grammy nomination), System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity" and "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...
". In May 2006, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
listed Toxicity in the No.14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
throughout the United States and Mexico. Following a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Odadjian was harassed, ethnically intimidated, and was physically assaulted by security guards backstage, who then dragged him out of the venue. Odadjian received medical attention from police and later filed a suit against the security company. Despite the incident, the tour was a success and System of a Down and Slipknot went on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
in 2001.
In late 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions made their way onto the internet. This collection of tracks was dubbed Toxicity II by fans. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material and subsequently released the final versions of the songs as their third album, Steal This Album!
Steal This Album!
Steal This Album! is the third studio album by American heavy metal band System of a Down, released on November 26, 2002, on American Recordings...
, which was released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
's counter-culture book, Steal This Book
Steal This Book
-Advice on dissidence:The book includes advice on such topics as growing cannabis, starting a pirate radio station, living in a commune, stealing food, shoplifting, stealing credit cards, preparing a legal defense, making pipe bombs, and obtaining a free buffalo from the Department of the Interior...
as well as a message to those who leaked the songs onto the internet. The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
as a protest against the War in Iraq.
Mezmerize and Hypnotize (2004–2006)
Between 2004 to 2005, the group recorded the follow-up to Steal This Album!, a double album, which they released as separate installments six months apart from each other, notably including album cover artwork by Malakian's father, Vartan Malakian, which was designed to connect the two separate album covers. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005 to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at No.1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of A Down's second No.1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.", which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!Question!
"Question!" is a song by the band System of a Down. It is the second single of their fourth album Mezmerize, which focuses on life after death...
" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
and Bad Acid Trip
Bad Acid Trip
Bad Acid Trip is an American metal band, currently signed to System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian's record label, Serjical Strike Records. Their 2004 album, Lynch the Weirdo, was produced by Daron Malakian, another System of a Down member. In 2006 they performed on the second stage at the...
supporting.
The second part of the double 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...
, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at No.1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX
DMX (rapper)
Earl Simmons , better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's...
, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at No.1 in the same year. In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
and Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day
Lonely Day
"Lonely Day" is the second single from the 2005 album Hypnotize by the band System of a Down. It was written by guitarist Daron Malakian, who also provides lead vocals on the track. The song received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards."Lonely Day" features...
" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll
Kill Rock 'n Roll
"Kill Rock 'n Roll" is the third track and third promo single from System of a Down's 2005 album Hypnotize. It was one of the few songs off of Hypnotize that was performed at live shows before the release of the album. The song was written by Daron Malakian...
" and "Vicinity of Obscenity
Vicinity of Obscenity
"Vicinity of Obscenity" is a song and a promo single by System of a Down, and as of , their last. It is the ninth track on the album Hypnotize. The single also features "Lonely Day". It is one of the most unusual songs on the record, with one section having a complex time signature that equates to...
" as their next promo
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
singles. The band headlined Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.
Whereas on System of a Down's previous albums most of the lyrics were written and sung by Tankian and the music was co-written by Tankian and Malakian (and sometimes Odadjian) much of the music and lyrics on Mezmerize/Hypnotize were written by Malakian who also took on a much more dominant role as vocalist on both albums, often leaving Tankian providing keyboards and backing vocals.
Concert footage and interviews with the band concerning the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of 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...
were featured in the 2006 film Screamers
Screamers (2006 film)
Screamers is a 2006 documentary by director Carla Garapedian. The film explores why genocides have recurred into the modern day, and involves the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian's grandfather , the human-rights activist, journalist, and Professor Samantha Power, and various people involved...
, directed by Carla Garapedian
Carla Garapedian
Carla Garapedian is a documentary filmmaker. She directed "Children of the Secret State" about North Korea and was an anchor for BBC World News...
. An interview with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor of the Genocide, was also included in the film as well as Tankian's and Dolmayan's meeting with (then) Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
during which the two musicians campaigned for the United States government's official recognition of the Genocide. Footage of Tankian and Dolmayan marching with protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. was also used in Screamers.
System of a Down was honored at a University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity
Toxicity (song)
"Toxicity" is a single by System of a Down, released in 2002. It was originally released on the album of the same name.The writing credit for the song is Malakian/Odadjian/Tankian....
," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize
Hypnotize (System of a Down song)
-Hypnotize :CD1CD2-Hypnotize :-Hypnotize :-Hypnotize :-External links:**...
." System of a Down's song "Lonely Day
Lonely Day
"Lonely Day" is the second single from the 2005 album Hypnotize by the band System of a Down. It was written by guitarist Daron Malakian, who also provides lead vocals on the track. The song received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards."Lonely Day" features...
" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman
Woman (Wolfmother song)
"Woman" is a song by Australian hard rock band Wolfmother, featured on their 2005 debut studio album Wolfmother. It was released as the band's fourth single in Australia on 17 June 2006, and later in the United Kingdom on 17 July...
" by Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
.
In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest."
May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers
Ben Myers
Ben Myers is an English writer.His first novel The Book Of Fuck, a fictionalised account about a hapless music journalist, was published to underground acclaim in 2004 through Wrecking Ball Press. Myers claimed it was written in six days "as a joke"...
. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.
Hiatus (2006–2010)
Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on BroadwayScars on Broadway
Scars on Broadway is an American-Armenian rock band, founded by System of a Down members Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan. The band's eponymous debut album was released on July 29, 2008....
, which was joined by Dolmayan. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."
Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead
Elect the Dead
-Personnel:* All Songs Written & Performed by Serj Tankian - Stunning Suppository Sounds '...
in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album
Scars on Broadway (album)
-Charts:-Personnel:Scars on Broadway is:* Daron Malakian — vocals, guitars, bass guitars, keyboards/organs/mellotrons* John Dolmayan — drums* Produced by: Daron Malakian* Engineered by: Dave Schiffman...
on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, Indicator, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store. Odadjian pursued his project with RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
of Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN
Achozen
Achozen [pronounced: UH-choh-zen] is a project by System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, Wu-Tang Clan member RZA, Killarmy member Kinetic 9, and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Reverend William Burke...
, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
's backing band.
Reunion and tour (2011)
On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they would be reuniting for a string of large European festival dates in June 2011.Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival
Greenfield Festival
The Greenfield Festival is an annual music festival on the outskirts of the Swiss city, Interlaken.- 2005 :* Date: 24. – 26. June 2005* Visitors: 25'500Line-up:* Adam Green* Aereogramme* Alter Bridge* Boss Martians* Breed 77* Bright Eyes...
, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival
Nova Rock Festival
The Nova Rock Festival, also just Nova Rock, is a music festival that has existed since 2005 and takes place each year in June. It is Austria's biggest rock music festivals, and also one of the largest in Europe. It is located in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria, near...
and Finland's Provinssirock
Provinssirock
Provinssirock is one of the biggest rock festivals in Finland. It takes place in the city of Seinäjoki in Southern Ostrobothnia, Western Finland. The 3-day festival, which starts the busy Finnish rock festival season, has been held every June since 1979.The 2007 festival enjoyed a combined three...
. In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "We have no master plan of sorts – we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans."
On March 1, 2011 the band announced they will play several shows in western North America in May and June. The reunion tour commenced on May 10, 2011 in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Alberta.
On May 4, 2011, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
event organiser and promoter Roberto Medina announced that System will be headlining, alongside Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, his Rock in Rio 2011
Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010....
festival on October 2 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
System's first tour through Mexico and South America began on September 28, 2011 in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, ending in Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
on October 7, 2011. From late February to early March 2012, they will headline five dates at the Soundwave festival. This will be the first visit in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, since 2005.
Asked in October 2011 whether System of a Down will record a new album, drummer John Dolmayan
John Dolmayan
John William Dolmayan is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American songwriter and drummer. He is best known as the drummer of System of a Down. Dolmayan is also the drummer for the band Scars on Broadway and Indicator....
replied, "We're gonna take it day by day. [...] For the people who are waiting for an album — I know there's a lot of people waiting for an album; I'm waiting for an album just like they are. It's gonna happen when it's right and when we can make something that tops what we've done in the past. Because we don't really wanna rest on our laurels — where what you've done in the past is what you depend on. Well, I don't wanna do that, and I know the rest of the guys don't wanna do that. Instead of resting on our laurels, we wanna throw them away and create something new and specific for this generation that they can say that's their System of a Down."
Style and influences
The stylistic variety and level of experimentationExperimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
in System of a Down's music has made it difficult to describe, but System of a Down has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style has variously been termed alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...
, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, rock, art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
, experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
, progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene" and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A
Dropped A tuning
Dropped A tuning is an alternate tuning for a 7 string guitar where an A is placed over the original standard E tuning or on a 6 string guitar where the strings are tuned to AEADF♯B. This is a "drop 1" tuning in the key of B...
7-string guitar
Seven-string guitar
A seven-string guitar is a guitar with seven strings instead of the usual six. Some types of seven-string guitars are specific to certain cultures . The standard 7-string guitar tuning is BEADGbe...
sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet". According to Tankian, "As far as arrangement and everything, [our music] is pretty much pop. To me, System of a Down isn't a progressive band. [...] But it's not a typical pop project, obviously. We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before."
The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolin
Electric mandolin
The electric mandolin is an instrument tuned and played as the mandolin and amplified in similar fashion to an electric guitar.As with electric guitars, electric mandolins take many forms:...
s, baritone electric guitar
Baritone guitar
The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...
s, acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s, oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
s, sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
s and twelve string guitar
Twelve string guitar
The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
s. According to Malakian, he would often write songs in E♭ tuning, which would later be changed to drop C tuning
Drop C tuning
Drop C tuning can be used to refer to two different alternative guitar tunings:* CGCFAD - The most commonly intended meaning of Drop C, though the term is incorrect...
in order to be performed by the band. Malakian states that "For me, the drop-C tuning is right down the center. It has enough of the clarity and the crisp sound—most of our riffy stuff is done on the top two strings, anyway—but it's also thicker and ballsier."
The band's influences include Middle Eastern music
Middle Eastern music
The music of Western Asia and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, Southern Italy, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...
, Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Deftones
Deftones
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...
, and Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
. One reviewer claimed that their music encompasses different sounds, from sounding like "Fugazi playing Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
" to sometimes "tread[ing] close to Frank Zappa territory". Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band." Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down." Odadjian stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."
Awards and nominations
System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song B.Y.O.B.. The band has also been nominated for several Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
and MTV awards.
Grammy Awards
|-
| || "Chop Suey!" || Best Metal Performance ||
|-
| || "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...
" || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
|-
| || "B.Y.O.B." || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
|-
| || "Lonely Day
Lonely Day
"Lonely Day" is the second single from the 2005 album Hypnotize by the band System of a Down. It was written by guitarist Daron Malakian, who also provides lead vocals on the track. The song received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards."Lonely Day" features...
" || Best Hard Rock Performance ||
General
- In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
- In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!Question!"Question!" is a song by the band System of a Down. It is the second single of their fourth album Mezmerize, which focuses on life after death...
" - In 2006, System of a Down's song "ToxicityToxicity (song)"Toxicity" is a single by System of a Down, released in 2002. It was originally released on the album of the same name.The writing credit for the song is Malakian/Odadjian/Tankian....
" was No.14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list
Band members
| First Soil line-up (1992–1993) |
|
Soil's second line-up (1993–1995) |
Daron Malakian Daron Vartan Malakian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the heavy metal band System of a Down and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative... – lead guitar Lead guitar Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... , back-vocals Serj Tankian Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist... – vocals, keyboard Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian is an Armenian American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/editor, music producer, and artist/painter. He is best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and occasional songwriter of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down... – rhythm guitar Rhythm guitar Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... |
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| System of a Down's first line-up (1995–1997) |
Daron Malakian Daron Vartan Malakian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the heavy metal band System of a Down and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative... – guitar, back-vocals Serj Tankian Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist... – vocals, keyboard, keytar Keytar A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands... Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian is an Armenian American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/editor, music producer, and artist/painter. He is best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and occasional songwriter of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down... – bass, back-vocals |
System of a Down's standard line-up (1997–present) |
Daron Malakian Daron Vartan Malakian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the heavy metal band System of a Down and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative... – guitar, vocals Serj Tankian Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist... – lead vocals, keyboard Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian is an Armenian American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/editor, music producer, and artist/painter. He is best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and occasional songwriter of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down... – bass, back-vocals John Dolmayan John William Dolmayan is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American songwriter and drummer. He is best known as the drummer of System of a Down. Dolmayan is also the drummer for the band Scars on Broadway and Indicator.... – drums |
Occasional contributors:
- Arto TunçboyacıyanArto TunçboyaciyanArto Tunçboyacıyan is an Armenian-Turkish musician. A famous avant-garde folk artist , he appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving in the United States, where he went to work with numerous jazz legends including Chet Baker, Al Di Meola, and Joe Zawinul as well as a semi-regular...
– percussion, composition (on Toxicity: "Science" and "Arto". Steal This Album!: "Bubbles" and some live concerts in 2005) - Harry Perry – rhythm guitar (OzzfestOzzfestOzzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
2006)
Discography
- System of a DownSystem of a Down (album)System of a Down is the debut album by American heavy metal band System of a Down, first released in 1998. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on February 2, 2000. Two years later, after the success of Toxicity, it was certified platinum...
(1998) - ToxicityToxicity (album)Toxicity is the second album by American heavy metal band System of a Down. Produced by Rick Rubin, Toxicity was released on September 4, 2001 by American Recordings, debuting at #1 on both the United States, with 220,000 copies, and #1 on the Canadian charts...
(2001) - Steal This Album!Steal This Album!Steal This Album! is the third studio album by American heavy metal band System of a Down, released on November 26, 2002, on American Recordings...
(2002) - Mezmerize (2005)
- HypnotizeHypnotize (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...
(2005)