System of a Down
System of a Down is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of founding members Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals); Shavo Odadjian (bass, backing vocals); along with John Dolmayan (drums), who replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian.[1]
For the eponymous album from this band, see System of a Down (album).
System of a Down
The band achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums, three of which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and their song "B.Y.O.B." won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2006. The band went on hiatus in 2006 and reunited in 2010. Other than two new songs in 2020 ("Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz"),[2] System of a Down has not released any new material since the Mezmerize and Hypnotize albums in 2005. The band has sold over 12 million records worldwide, while two of their singles, "Aerials" and "Hypnotize", reached number one on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.
All members of System of a Down are of Armenian descent, either born to Armenian immigrants or immigrants themselves.
History
Soil (1992–1994)
Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School as children. However, due to their eight-year age difference, they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio.[3] They formed a band named Soil with Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who later played in the band 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 on second guitar. In 1994, after only one live show at the Roxy and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio left the band.
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 a Down".[4] The word "victims" was changed to "system" because Odadjian believed that it would appeal to a much wider audience and also because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved closer to their musical heroes, Slayer.[5] 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.[6] The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian and Odadjian who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.[4]
In early 1995, System of a Down performed under the name Soil at the Cafe Club Fais Do-Do, a nightclub in Los Angeles. Shortly after the event, System of a Down made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released, but eventually 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).[4] Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.
The band's first official and professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hay Enk ("We're Armenian" in English), an Armenian genocide recognition compilation in 1997. After playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky a Go Go and Viper Room, the band caught attention of producer Rick Rubin, who asked them to keep in touch. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997, specifically to be sent to record companies. Rubin signed the group to his American/Columbia Records, with the band celebrating the signing with a performance at The Roxy Theatre with Human Waste Project on September 12, 1997.[7] Afterwards, System began laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album with engineer Sylvia Massy. "I loved them," Rubin recalled. "They were my favourite band, but I didn't think anyone was going to like them apart from a small, likeminded group of people like me who were crazy. No one was waiting for an Armenian heavy metal band. It had to be so good that it transcended all of that."[8]
In 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.[9]
Self-titled album (1998–2000)
In June 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. 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 on the Diabolus in Musica tour, behind Clutch, 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 does not introduce them as he does most of the other artists featured on the record.[10]
Artistry
Lyrical themes
System of a Down's lyrics are often oblique[64] or dadaist[64][65] and have discussed topics such as drug abuse,[64] politics[64][66] and suicide.[64] "Prison Song" criticizes the War on Drugs[67] whereas Rolling Stone describes "Roulette" as a "scared, wounded love letter".[68] "Boom!", among the band's most straightforward and unambiguous songs, lambasts globalization and spending on bombs and armament.[69] Commenting on the track "I-E-A-I-A-I-O", drummer John Dolmayan said it was inspired by an encounter he had with Knight Rider's actor David Hasselhoff in a liquor store in Los Angeles when he was around 12.[70] On Mezmerize, "Cigaro" makes explicit references to phallic imagery[71] and bureaucracy[65] while "Violent Pornography" harshly views television[71] and degradation of women.[72] System of a Down's discontent towards the controversial Iraq War arises in "B.Y.O.B.",[65][73] which is a double entendre reference to beer and bombs,[74] containing the forthright lyric "Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?",[65][71][72] "Old School Hollywood" describes a celebrity baseball game.[72][75] On their album "Hypnotize", "Tentative" describes war,[76][77] "Hypnotize" refers to the Tiananmen Square events,[78][79] and "Lonely Day" describes angst.[75] The album title Steal This Album! is a play on the book Steal This Book by left-wing political activist Abbie Hoffman.[69][80][81] System of a Down's firm commitment for the Armenian genocide to be recognized appears in two songs: "P.L.U.C.K." and "Holy Mountains", which rank among the band's most political songs.[77]
Music
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated "Like many late-'90s metal bands System of a Down struck a balance between '80s underground thrash metal and metallic early-'90s alternative rockers like Jane's Addiction".[82] System of a Down's music has variously been termed alternative metal,[82][83][84][85][86] nu metal,[87][88][89][90][91] hard rock,[92][93][94] progressive metal,[95][96][97] heavy metal,[82][98] thrash metal,[99][100][101] art rock,[102][103] and avant-garde metal.[104][102]
Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene"[105] and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A 7-string guitar sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet."[106] In interview with Mike Lancaster, he also said, "People always seem to feel the need to put us into a category, but we just don't fit into any category."[107] 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."[108] Malakian once described their music "as if Slayer and the Beatles had a baby."[109]
The band has used a wide range of instruments, such as electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, ouds, sitars, and twelve string guitars.[110] 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.[106] 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."[106]
Influences and comparison to other artists
System of a Down's influences include Middle Eastern music,[111] Ozzy Osbourne,[105][111] Black Sabbath,[112] Led Zeppelin,[112] Def Leppard,[113] Scorpions,[113] Morbid Angel,[113] Death,[113] Obituary,[113] Eazy-E,[113] N.W.A,[113] Run-DMC,[113] Umm Kulthum,[113] Abdel Halim Hafez,[113] The Kinks,[113] the Bee Gees,[113] Grateful Dead,[113] The Beatles,[114] Red Hot Chili Peppers,[112] Dead Kennedys,[115] Bauhaus,[116] Depeche Mode,[116] New Order,[116] Radiohead,[116] Metallica,[117] Miles Davis,[117] Alice in Chains,[118] Iron Maiden,[118] Bad Brains,[115] Slayer,[111][119] Van Halen,[120] and Kiss.[121] One reviewer claimed that their music encompasses different sounds, from sounding like "Fugazi playing Rush" to sometimes "tread[ing] close to Frank Zappa territory."[122] Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band."[123] Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down."[124] 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."[124]
Current members
Former members
Timeline
