System of a Down

• 1. Introduction

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  System of a Down, an Armenian-American metal band from Glendale, California, planned a thank-you gift for its fans on the 3rd of September 2001. The gift was a free concert in Hollywood to launch the band's second album. The site was a parking lot built for 3,500 people. About 10,000 more came. The fire marshal cancelled the show at the last minute, without warning.

  Fans waited more than an hour. Then security removed a banner bearing the band's name from the back of the stage, and the crowd rushed forward. They destroyed roughly $30,000 worth of touring equipment, threw rocks at police, broke windows and knocked over portable toilets. The riot lasted six hours and ended with six arrests.

  Manager David "Beno" Benveniste later argued that it could have been avoided if the band had been allowed to play, or at least to speak to the crowd about the cancellation. An in-store appearance planned for the next day was cancelled so the scene would not repeat.

  What makes a crowd that desperate to see four musicians? How did a group born from the breakup of an earlier band reach that point? What do these songs argue about, and what do they owe to a history their members carry? And why did the new music slow to a trickle?

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• 2. A Sound Without a Shelf

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  Loudwire once judged System of a Down to be "probably the weirdest act to ever sell out arenas." The band's own guitarist, Daron Malakian, offered a different shorthand. He described the music as if Slayer and the Beatles had a baby. Critics and fans have reached for many labels: alternative metal, nu metal, hard rock, progressive metal, heavy metal, thrash metal, art rock and avant-garde metal.

  Malakian rejected the whole exercise. "We don't belong to any one scene," he has said. He also disliked the drop-A seven-string guitar sound that defined nu metal, calling it "not my thing, at least not yet." Malakian told interviewer Mike Lancaster the following: "People always seem to feel the need to put us into a category, but we just don't fit into any category."

  Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic placed the band between two traditions. One was the underground thrash metal of the 1980s. The other was the metallic alternative rock of the early 1990s, with Jane's Addiction as his example. Serj Tankian offered a stranger self-assessment. In his words: "As far as arrangement and everything, our music is pretty much pop." He added that it is obviously not a typical pop project, because the band checks that nothing sounds like something already heard.

  Droning notes, modulations, modes and shifting time signatures run through many of the songs. The band's influences stretch from jazz and hip hop to thrash metal, even Norwegian black metal, and Middle Eastern music. Reverb.com concluded that these habits make the group one of the most progressive bands associated with nu metal. Tankian himself says System of a Down is not a progressive band.

  Electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, ouds, sitars and twelve-string guitars all turn up in the band's recordings. Malakian often writes in E-flat tuning, then shifts songs to drop C so the full band can play them. He says drop C sits "right down the center" between clarity and weight, since most of the riffs live on the top two strings.

  The list of named influences runs from Black Sabbath and Slayer to Miles Davis, N.W.A and Umm Kulthum, with Abdel Halim Hafez also on it. One reviewer heard "Fugazi playing Rush" in the music, and at times something close to Frank Zappa territory. Drummer John Dolmayan was blunt. "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down." Shavo Odadjian, the bassist, shrugged off comparisons entirely: "Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."

  The band's reach shows up in unexpected places. Sweden's former prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, has said she is a fan. In a 2012 interview with The Village Voice, the singer Morrissey said "Lonely Day" was the last song he absolutely loved. RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan named Mezmerize among his favorite rock albums. In 2002, Jack Black covered "Chop Suey!" on Channel V Australia, and Tankian later said he loves how freely Black improvises with it.

  Loudwire's staff ranked the band the eleventh-best metal band of all time in 2016. In 2020, Kerrang! named "Chop Suey!" the band's greatest song. A year later it listed ten bands it said would not exist without System of a Down, including Avenged Sevenfold, Beartooth and Bad Acid Trip. Bad Acid Trip had already shared a stage with them, as a support act on a tour after the album Mezmerize.

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• 3. Songs With Targets

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  "Prison Song" aims at the war on drugs and at what the band sees as a prison industrial complex. "Boom!" is among the band's most direct songs, lambasting globalization and spending on bombs and armaments. For its video, the band worked with the director Michael Moore, as a protest against the war in Iraq.

  A line in "Boom!" has an earlier life. In November 1998 the band contributed "Will They Die 4 You?" to the South Park album Chef Aid. Near the end of that song, Tankian can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" The band reused the line later in "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, the show's Chef character does not introduce them the way he does most other artists on the record.

  Iraq runs through "B.Y.O.B." as well. Its title is a double entendre about beer and bombs. The song questions the integrity of military recruiting in America and asks, "Why don't presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?"

  Not every song carries a banner. Rolling Stone described "Roulette" as a "scared, wounded love letter." On Mezmerize, "Cigaro" uses explicit phallic imagery alongside references to bureaucracy. "Violent Pornography" takes a harsh view of television and the degradation of women. "Old School Hollywood" simply describes a celebrity baseball game.

  On Hypnotize, "Tentative" describes war, the title track refers to the events at Tiananmen Square, and "Lonely Day" describes angst. Dolmayan has said "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" was inspired by his encounter with the Knight Rider actor David Hasselhoff in a Los Angeles liquor store, when Dolmayan was around 12. The band's lyrics are often oblique or dadaist, and they touch on drug abuse, politics and suicide.

  Two songs, "P.L.U.C.K." and "Holy Mountains," carry the band's firm commitment to seeing the Armenian genocide recognized. They rank among its most political work.

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• 4. Armenian Memory

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  Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School is where the shared history begins. Tankian and Malakian attended it as children, and Odadjian is also an alumnus. Every member of System of a Down is of Armenian descent, either born to Armenian immigrants or an immigrant himself.

  In 1997 the band recorded its first official, professionally produced song for Hay Enk, which means "We're Armenian" in English. The release was a compilation meant to promote recognition of the Armenian genocide.

  The 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian, put that activism on screen. It combined concert footage with interviews about raising awareness of the genocide. One interview was with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor. The film also followed Tankian and Dolmayan to a meeting with then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, where they pressed for official United States recognition. Footage showed the two men marching with protesters outside the Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C.

  On the 23rd of November 2014, the band announced the Wake Up The Souls Tour to mark the 100th anniversary of the genocide. The tour included a free concert in Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, on the 23rd of April 2015. It was the band's first show in the country. The Parajanov-Vartanov Institute gave the tour its award for best film in 2015.

  On the 5th of November 2020, during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, the band released "Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz." They were the first new songs in 15 years. The songs were described as ones that "speak of a dire and serious war being perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia." Proceeds were to help Armenia Fund and the humanitarian needs of families displaced by the war.

  Both songs received music videos. The one for "Protect the Land" was the band's first in 14 years, since "Lonely Day."

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• 5. From Soil to Signing

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  In 1992, two musicians eight years apart in age met at the same recording studio, each working on a separate project. Tankian and Malakian formed a band called Soil. Dave Hakopyan played bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio played drums. Soil hired Odadjian as its manager, though he eventually joined on second guitar. The group played one live show, at the Roxy, and recorded one jam session. In 1994, Hakopyan and Laranio left.

  Malakian had written a poem titled "Victims of a Down." Odadjian argued that "system" would appeal to a much wider audience than "victims." The new word also meant the band's records would sit alphabetically closer to its heroes in Slayer. Odadjian moved from guitar to bass and handed his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group, founded by Benveniste.

  The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian and Odadjian. He and Malakian had played together in a teenage band called Snowblind.

  In early 1995, the group still played as Soil at the Cafe Club Fais Do-Do, a Los Angeles nightclub. Soon afterward it made the Untitled 1995 Demo Tape. That tape was never commercially released, but it surfaced on file-sharing networks around the time Toxicity took off, about six years later. Demo Tape 2 came out in 1996, and Demo Tape 3 was recorded at the start of 1997.

  In mid-1997, Khachaturian broke his hand by punching a wall during an argument, which left him facing a year of recovery. John Dolmayan, whose band shared a rehearsal space with them, took over the drums. Khachaturian went on to co-found The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Hakopyan.

  Playing Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky a Go Go and the Viper Room drew the attention of the producer Rick Rubin. He asked them to keep in touch. The band then recorded Demo Tape 4 specifically to send to record companies. Rubin signed the group to his label, American/Columbia Records, and the band celebrated with a show at The Roxy Theatre alongside Human Waste Project on the 12th of September 1997. Engineer Sylvia Massy then worked with them on tracks for the debut.

  "I loved them," Rubin recalled. "They were my favorite band." He did not expect anyone beyond a small, likeminded group to agree. "No one was waiting for an Armenian heavy metal band," he said. "It had to be so good that it transcended all of that." That same year, the Rock City Awards named the group Best Signed Band.

  The debut album, System of a Down, arrived in June 1998. The singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" became radio favorites, and MTV aired both videos often. The band toured heavily, opening for Slayer on the Diabolus in Musica tour, behind Clutch, and then played Ozzfest's second stage. Dates with Fear Factory and Incubus followed. Finally came the Sno-Core Tour, which the band headlined, with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus in support.

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• 6. Number One, Twice

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  Toxicity debuted at No. 1 on the American and Canadian charts and eventually reached 3x multi-platinum certification in the United States. It was still on top during the week of the 9/11 attacks. The political climate after the attacks fed controversy around its hit single "Chop Suey!" A 2001 Clear Channel memorandum flagged politically sensitive lyrics, such as "I don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide," and the song was pulled from radio.

  The video still got constant play on MTV, as did the video for "Toxicity." "Chop Suey!" earned a Grammy nomination. The title track and "Aerials" kept the band on American airwaves throughout late 2001 and 2002. In May 2006, VH1 placed "Toxicity" at number 14 on its list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

  In Grand Rapids, Michigan, during a 2001 tour with Slipknot, Odadjian was allegedly harassed, ethnically intimidated and physically assaulted backstage by security guards, who then dragged him out of the venue. Police gave him medical attention, and he later filed suit against the security company. The tour was still a success. The two bands then joined Rammstein on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour in 2001.

  Late in 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions reached the Internet. Fans dubbed the collection Toxicity II. The band said the tracks were unfinished, then released the final versions as its third album, Steal This Album!, in November 2002. The packaging resembled a burnable CD marked with a felt-tip marker. About 50,000 special copies carried different CD designs, each drawn by a different band member. The title nods to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book Steal This Book, and to the people who leaked the songs. The song "Innervision" went out as a promo single and got constant airplay on alternative radio.

  In 2004, the group recorded a double album and released it in two installments six months apart. The artwork came from Malakian's father, Vartan Malakian, and was designed so the two covers connect. Mezmerize appeared on the 17th of May 2005 to favorable reviews. It debuted at No. 1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, making it the band's second chart-topping album. First-week sales exceeded 800,000 copies worldwide.

  The lead single, "B.Y.O.B.," climbed the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts and won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. "Question!" followed, with Odadjian co-directing its video.

  Hypnotize came out on the 22nd of November 2005 and also debuted at No. 1 in the United States. That made System of a Down the fourth artist ever, after the Beatles, 2Pac and DMX, to have two studio albums debut at No. 1 in the same year. The singles "Hypnotize," "Lonely Day" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" were each also released as EPs. Those EPs included B-sides from 1999 and 2000, among them "Shame," a collaboration with the Wu-Tang Clan. "Kill Rock 'N Roll" was the final promotional single. At the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, "Lonely Day" lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.

  On earlier albums, Tankian wrote and sang most of the lyrics, and he and Malakian co-wrote the music, sometimes with Odadjian. Across Mezmerize and Hypnotize, Malakian wrote much more of the music and lyrics and took over far more of the singing. Tankian was often left with keyboards and backing vocals. Within months, the band would announce it was stepping away.

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• 7. Hiatus and Detours

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  Odadjian told Guitar magazine that the break would last a minimum of three years, and Malakian confirmed it would probably run a few years. The band announced the hiatus in May 2006. Odadjian told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest." He added, "We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest."

  The band played its last show before the break on the 13th of August 2006, in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."

  Malakian formed Scars on Broadway, and Dolmayan joined him. After one self-titled album the project went dormant and Dolmayan left. A second album, Dictator, finally appeared in 2018 under the name "Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway." Dolmayan formed his own band, Indicator, and opened an online comic bookstore called Torpedo Comics.

  Odadjian teamed with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan on a hip-hop project called AcHoZeN. He also worked on his urSESSION website and record label and performed in funk legend George Clinton's backing band. Tankian chose a solo career. His debut, Elect the Dead, came out in the autumn of 2007. He has kept releasing solo albums, recording them almost entirely by himself, even after the band began touring again.

  On the 29th of November 2010, after several weeks of Internet rumors, the band officially announced a reunion. It would begin with large European festival dates in June 2011, including the UK's Download Festival, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival, Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock and Finland's Provinssirock. The reunion tour itself started on the 10th of May 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta.

  The band's first tour through Mexico and South America ran from Mexico City on the 28th of September 2011 to Santiago, Chile, on the 7th of October. In late February and early March 2012 they headlined five dates at Soundwave festival. In August 2012 they played Heavy MTL in Montreal and Heavy T.O. in Toronto. A year later they appeared at the UK's Reading and Leeds Festivals.

  Their only United States show of 2013 was at the Hollywood Bowl on the 29th of July. Tickets sold out within hours of going on sale on the 22nd of March.

  In his May 2024 memoir, Down with the System, Tankian revealed that around 2005 he had offered to step down. A back injury and a lack of interest in touring were his reasons, and he suggested the band find a new vocalist. The band did audition an unnamed singer without his knowledge. Then it discarded the idea and carried on with its original vocalist.

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• 8. The Unfinished Album

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  In a November 2016 interview with Kerrang!, Dolmayan said the band was working on more than a dozen songs. "I want everyone on board and feeling good about it," he said. He acknowledged the pressure of the wait, since eleven years had already gone by since Mezmerize and Hypnotize.

  On the 2nd of July 2017, Odadjian answered a fan in a video Q&A. "I'm waiting for a new album too. It's not happening." In December 2017, Tankian told Rolling Stone that the band had written some new material but was uncertain what to do with it. He did not want to commit to an album because the band was not committing to longform touring.

  Malakian singled out Tankian as the reason no record had appeared. Tankian said that, because the members "couldn't see eye to eye on all these points," they decided to set aside the idea of a record for the time being. Dolmayan blamed everyone, citing personal and creative differences. Tankian did not rule out an album and described how it should feel: "It's gotta be organic, it's gotta feel right in every way."

  Odadjian said the band had material written over the last 10 or 12 years, but he was unsure it would become a System of a Down album. He said Malakian and Tankian held different visions of how it should sound. The tension, he added, had been building far longer than fans knew, alongside love and respect. He later said there was no ongoing conflict and that the band would eventually record its best material yet. Tankian denied any talk of a new album.

  Malakian described a mixture of creative differences and a lack of desire to tour. He felt that "a lot of the fans just want an album." He was content with Scars on Broadway. As he put it: "I don't see that happening anytime soon that we're all going to get together and make a new System of a Down album." Odadjian noted that no recordings had been made without Tankian. Tankian said he was open to releasing a collection of unreleased songs from past sessions if his bandmates agreed.

  Dolmayan, who wanted more music, refused to pin it on one person. "It takes four people to make this band, and it takes four people to unmake it," he said. He called the hiatus "a disastrous move for us because we never reached our peak." In January 2023, he claimed that Tankian had not wanted to be in a band for a long time and that the band probably should have parted ways around 2006. He insisted the chemistry onstage was still great.

  Meanwhile, the members found other outlets. Dolmayan started a Kickstarter in 2014 for a cover project, These Grey Men, with his friend James Hazley. The first single, a cover of Radiohead's "Street Spirit," arrived on the 23rd of January 2020, with M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold on vocals and a closing guitar solo by Tom Morello. The second single featured Tankian on David Bowie's "Starman." The album came out on the 28th of February 2020 and covers artists such as Radiohead, AFI, Madonna and Talking Heads.

  On the 17th of December 2020, Tankian told Rolling Stone he would release an EP called Elasticity. The pandemic pushed it from October to February 2021. It contains songs he wrote for System of a Down that the band chose not to record.

  After the 2020 benefit songs, Dolmayan told Rolling Stone, "If it was up to me, we'd have a new album every three years." He added, "We do have five albums and now two songs." Malakian said the songs were first meant for Scars on Broadway, and he called them a "one-off kind of thing." Odadjian told Wall of Sound that being in the studio together felt "just like brothers making music together, like it all started." Speaking to Triple J, Tankian said, "Time will tell whether this leads to something else or not."

  Live shows continued. The band's only 2023 performance was as a co-headliner at the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas on the 14th of May. In 2024 it headlined Sick New World again, on the 27th of April. It also co-headlined a standalone concert with Deftones at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the first ticketed concert ever held at that venue. In 2025 the band launched its "Wake Up!" tour, which brought Latin American dates for the first time in ten years plus a few shows in the United States and Canada. A European tour and two more Sick New World shows were announced for 2026.

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