The Sad Truth About System of a Down

System of a Down is an Armenian American heavy metal band from Glendale California known for their eccentric sound and often fiercely political lyrics the band would see one of the most incredible rises in the history of heavy music with each and every single one of their albums achieving Platinum certification with their highest selling album Toxicity reaching triple platinum certification then suddenly at the absolute peak of their commercial popularity the band would go on extended hiatus never to record Another album again since then we've come to learn of attempted band takeovers interpersonal struggles and Stark differences of political opinion that would ultimately contribute to the fractured personal relationships that Mar the band today so how did System of a Down go from best-selling Titans of the genre to a band that will likely never release another album this is the rise and fall of System of a Down Our Story begins at the Rose and Alex pilos Armenians school in Los Angeles where Serge tanen Darren Malakian and shavo odian all attended as children then in 1994 Serge and Darren would form the band soil which featured tanen on vocals and Malakian on guitar shabo would first work with soil as their manager but he would eventually take up base duties for the band The Soil project was shortlived as they would break up soon after their formation when members Dave hakopian and Domingo lorano abruptly left left the band after only one live show together From the Ashes of soil Rose a new band victims of a Down the name was inspired by a poem written by Malakian however because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically sheld closer to their musical Heroes Slayer the band's name was soon changed to the one we all know and love today System of a Down the band would complete their lineup by recruiting drummer Andy kachaturian but he would quickly be forced to step down from drumming duties following a hand injury his replacement would be none other than John dolmayan in 1997 system of AD down would release their first EP he enk which in English means we're Armenian the songs were recorded in recognition of the Armenian Genocide which was the systematic destruction of ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I at the time of Weir Armenian release the Armenian Genocide was not formally recognized by many count countries including the United States of America recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a cause that is Central to Armenian communities around the world and this of course includes the members of System of a Down the band would begin building their fan base in the Los Angeles area by playing gigs at iconic Hollywood clubs such as the whiskey aogo and The Viper Room it would not be until 3 years after their formation that they would gain the attention of an influential Advocate that would help push the band's career to new heights in 1997 System of a Down would gain the attention of the legendary Rick reuben reuben has produced a number of top selling artists from a variety of genres including Johnny Cash the Red Hot Chili Peppers slip knot and system of the Downs musical Heroes Slayer I loved System of a Down Reuben recalled they were my favorite band Reuben signed the group to Colombia recordings and in June 1998 they released their debut album the self-titled system of down the album was certified gold on February 2nd 2000 the band's momentum would only continue to grow with the September 3rd 2001 release of their second album Toxicity which would debut at number one on the American and Canadian charts the album's release though incredibly successful was marked by some controversy toxicity was released only days from the events of the 911 terrorist attacks the album's hit single chop sooi was deemed too controversial for radio due to what were considered politically sensitive lyrics including the famous I don't think you trust in my self-righteous suicide despite the controversy the song would be a massive success and even earned a Grammy nomination toxicity would eventually achieve triple platinum certification in the United States at the beginning of 2002 lowquality MP3s of unreleased tracks from the toxicity sessions were leaked onto the internet the band was disappointed that fans were hearing unfinished material and they to complete these songs then on November 26th 2002 fans would finally get to hear the finished tracks when the band released The Cheeky Steal This Album though this album produced the least number of recognizable hits out of any other System of a Down album both Serge tanen and John dolmayan say this is their favorite System of a Down album ever System of a Down would spend 2004 recording their upcoming double album the two albums now known as Mesmerize and hypnotize were scheduled to be released in 2005 6 months apart system of a Down's fourth album mesmerized was released on May 17th 2005 debuting at number one in the United States Canada Australia and all around the world the album would receive Universal Acclaim from critics and featured some of the most iconic songs in the band's entire discography including b yob b which would later win a Grammy award for the best hard rock performance the band had any time to catch their breath when the second part of the double album hypnotize was released on November 22nd 2005 like Mesmerize it debuted at number one in the US making System of a Down along with the Beatles Tupac and DMX among the only artists to ever have two Studio albums debut at number one in the same year these albums would feature a notable departure from the typical System of a Down sound with guitarist and backup singer Darren Malakian taking on a much more dominant role on vocals on both albums often relegating lead singer Serge tanen to backup vocals as we entered 2006 System of a Down found themselves at the absolute peak of their success the band had earned not one but two number one albums a Grammy award sold out tours and Universal Acclaim they were one of the biggest and most iconic heavy bands of the time and were beloved by fans which made it all the more B in when in May 2006 system of AD down announced that they would be going on an extended Hiatus at their August 13th 2006 performance in West Palm Beach Florida Malakian would tell the soldout crowd tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together we will be back we just don't know when system of it down went silent for 5 years while the band's individual members pursued their own musical Ventures it would not be until 2011 when the band would return return by embarking on a string of reunion performances in Europe the years following the band's return from Hiatus would be fragmented sporadic and really just kind of messy the band demonstrated a habit for abruptly reappearing and disappearing with little warning fans wondered why and how this became the norm for one of the most successful bands of their era more than a decade would pass without new music from the band for seemingly no reason at least not a reason that fans were aware of suddenly in a July 2018 interview Darren Malakian would finally break the silence around system of AD Down's lack of new music placing the blame squarely on Serge Serge wants to make an album his way and not everyone is on board with that that's been the issue Serge is totally set in his way of thinking he didn't even want to make Mesmerize and hypnotize said Malakian almost immediately Serge would fire back with a statement of his own stating that one of the reasons he needed a break from system of OD down was because of malan's attempted takeover of the band Serge revealed that Darren wanted to control system's creative process take more of the publishing money than anyone else and be the only member of the band to speak to press it certainly did not seem like fans would be getting a new System of a Down album anytime soon on the morning of September 27th 2020 the combined forces of aeran and turkey attacked the Republic of n Orno kabak which Armenians call arak and initiated the 2020 nagoro kabak War this mobilized Armenians around the world to speak out against the conflict and against the violence these events would Inspire system of AD down to set aside their differences and come together to record their first song in 15 years protect the land in an official statement the band stated that they hoped their fans would listen to the songs and quote be inspired to speak out about about the horrific injustices and human rights violations occurring in artak now proceeds from the song were donated to the Armenia fund which provided for the humanitarian needs of displaced families from the war System of a Down successfully raised hundreds and thousands of dollars for the cause while some fans interpreted the release of protect the land as a sign of the band returning to the studio they could not have been more wrong in a November 2020 interview with rolling stone Malaki and revealed that he wrote protect the land years prior to its recording and that it was originally meant to be released under his own band Scars on Broadway however as the 2020 negoro gabak war came to fruition the band decided to release the song's under System of a Down in order to make the biggest impact possible Malakian said he does not see the band making new music anytime soon and that the singles were a quote oneoff kind of thing the band has yet to issue further statements on the potential poal of future music since the release of protect the land in 2020 and it truly seems like there is no hope for a new System of a Down album in the future on April 24th 2021 President Joe Biden would declare formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide making him the first US president in history to do so this was an extremely important Milestone celebrated by Armenian Americans Across the Nation including of course the group of Serge Tankian Darren aan shabo odian and John dolmayan like I mentioned earlier system of a Down's first EP was a collection of songs recorded in recognition of the Armenian Genocide so if protect the land a song calling for Armenian Unity is in fact going to be the final song they ever work on together then it seems like a very fitting way to end the Saga of one of heavy music's most celebrated and most iconic bands

Channel: Heavi

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Keywords: system of a down, serj tankian, daron malakian, chop suey, system of a down aerials, john dolmayan, system of a down live, shavo odadjian, system of a down toxicity, music documentary, music history, rick rubin, nu metal, system of a down reaction, system of a down spiders, system of a down sugar, armenia, armenian genocide, protect the land, new system of a down album, new system of a down song

Id: 1fdFTch5pkM

Length: 10min 55sec (655 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 08 2022