Bios

"FUCK THE SYSTEM!" Those are some great words, from a great band. The band now known as System of a Down delivers a message, and delivers it strong. Many don't know the story behind them, but after reading this, you will.

It all started in an L.A. rehearsal studio, when Serj Tankian met a young guitarist named Daron Malakian. They were both in separate bands at the time, but noticed they had many things in common, including an Armenian background. They formed a band together with Andranik "Andy" Khatchadurian on drums. This early form of System of a Down was called Soil. A friend of the band, Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian, later replaced the band's bass player. They were now known as "System of a Down". After some creative differences between the unit arose, the timid John Dolmayan replaced Andy on drums. The band's name originated from "Victims of a Down", which was a poem written by Malakian. The name does not reflect only their view on the world's political system, but it is also a statement on their opinion of society as a whole.

Many different types of music have influenced System of a Down.








They have stated that from their early childhood, bands such as Dead Kennedys, Slayer, Morbid Angel, Kiss, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and even Armenian folk singers such as Harout Pamboukjian have influenced them. The result has been a very unique mix that includes elements of jazz, death metal, and Armenian rhythms. After a period of time, the boys gained a well-deserved buzz around the Los Angles club scene, and were becoming a draw for fans. Although most of their gigs have been in supporting slots, they have steadily gained popularity and respect. The list of bands they have played with include: Incubus, Soulfly, Limp Bizkit, Slayer, and even Black Sabbath.
Their long touring schedule and intense music have gotten them a very close following, and has driven their CD to gold status. Delivering outstanding live performances has been the band's strong point, but they have also done a good amount of recording. The summer of 1998 saw the release of the band's self-titled debut on American/Columbia. Since then they have contributed to several compilation albums and soundtracks.The soundtrack for the film "Strangeland" featured the song "Marmalade", and the compilation album "South Park: Chef Aid" had the band doing a song titled "Will They Die For You?" with rap artists Mase, Puff Daddy and Lil Kim. Additional contributions can be found on the recently released soundtracks for "Scream 3" ("Spiders"),"Heavy Metal 2000 ("Storaged"), "Blair Witch 2" ("Mind") and "Dracula 2000" ("The Metro"). In the year 2000 the band made appearances on such compilation albums as "Nativity in Black: 2" covering Black Sabbath's "Snowblind, "Loud Rocks" collaborating with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA on the remake of Wu-Tang's "Shame On Da Nigga" renaming it to "Shame". Perhaps the most important contribution was made to the tribute album to Lynn Strait, "Strait Up". Lynn was Serj's close friend and the lead singer of the band Snot who passed away in 98 along with his dog in a car accident. Serj wrote the lyrics for and sang in the song "Starlit Eyes", Shavo also played on the track "Catch A Spirit" with Max Cavallera of Soulfly. Serj also guest sang on (hed)pe's "Broke" album on the track "Feel Good" along with Morgan Lander of Kittie and on Tony Iommi's solo album "Iommi" on the track "Patterns"





With their increasing popularity and coverage on the World Wide Web
(at http://www.systemofadown.com/ ), not to mention that their debut album went gold, things seem to be looking very positive. SOAD started to work on their new album with returning producer Rick Rubin, which also is set to feature a guest appearance from Puya's vocalist Sergio. Rumored songs to appear on the sophomore album are: "Kit", "Chick N Stew", "ATTWA" and "Walls" among other tentative titles as well as remakes of their old demo songs. The current release date for the new album is June 26th. At first, most would say that System of a Down's music is too controversial to be accepted into the mainstream audience.
To them, we would ask to believe in the words:

REVOLUTION , THE ONLY SOLUTION

Last updated on: 01/11/01


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