System of a Down

Biography

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System of a Down (1994-2006, 2010-present): a Nu-Metal band from Glendale, California, USA.

ormed by ex-patriot Armenian former members of the band Soil Serj Tankian (vocals; a Jello Biafra look-alike except with an afro hairdo), Daron Malakian (guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass) and John Dolmayan (drums; who had replaced Andy Khachaturian in 1997), their 1998 Rick Rubin produced album System of a Down showed them to be a politically motivated punk, heavy metal & hardcore act (a style often referred to as "Nu-Metal") in the style of Faith No More and Coal Chamber. The subsequent tour with Slayer left many Slayer fans to exclaim "Who?", but the effort nonetheless gave System of a Down needed exposure.

The band would continue with 2001's Toxicity surpassing expectations by a debuted at No. 1 on the American and Canadian charts. It was the band's big break! They quickly followed it up with Steal this Album! (2002), Mezmerize (2005) and Hypnotize (2005). Hypnotize was a double CD effort that, like Mezmerize gave the band another 1 on the charts and allowing every album they produced to go certified platinum.

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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. That same year the band called a hiatus so they could engage on other projects.

May 2006 saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System of a Down: Right Here in Hollywood by author Ben Myers.

During the band's hiatus, Malakian formed Scars on Broadway and joined by Dolmayan. After that band's debut self-titled album the project became dormant and Dolmayan left.

In 2010, that hiatus ended when the band announced their reunification with a string of tour dates through Europe. System of a Down played their only 2013 US performance at the Hollywood Bowl on July 29; tickets sold out hours after going on sale. On November 23, 2014, System of a Down then announced the Wake Up The Souls Tour to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The tour included a free concert in Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, on April 23, 2015, their first show in the country.

Promises of a follow-up album were dispelled when Malakian singled Tankian out as the reason no new album had yet been released. It appeared as if the past conflicts within the band were not settled. Tankian, for his part, detailed his view of the band's past and present conflicts and their overall situation, saying, "As we couldn't see eye to eye on all these points we decided to put aside the idea of a record altogether for the time being." in an interview. Dolmayan, however, blamed all of the members due to the personal and creative differences that have been preventing them from recording a new studio album saying, "It takes four people to make this band, and it takes four people to unmake it. I think that we're all to blame." But Malakian said that Tankian and the rest of the band members have been unable to come to an agreement over how to go about making new music, but insisted that there was no negativity between them.

On November 5, 2020, in response to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, System of a Down released their first songs in 15 years, Protect the Land and Genocidal Humanoidz, both of which "speak of a dire and serious war being perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia," as described by the band. Rumors of a new album began to circulate again culminating in a January 2023 interview where Dolmayan claimed that Tankian "hasn't really wanted to be in a band for a long time [...] and quite frankly, we probably should have parted ways around 2006. We tried to get together multiple times to make an album, but there were certain rules set in place that made it difficult to do so and maintain the integrity of what System of a Down stood for." Despite the major setback, he said the chemistry to play live together as a band is still great at this time.

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