 System of a Down
System of a Down uses a wide range of instruments, including baritone electric guitars, electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string classical guitars and many other East Asian instruments. Their main influences are most noticeably from earlier alternative rock bands, but they also draw influence from the punk rock, jazz, fusion, Armenian folk music, classic rock, blues, and industrial genres.
The band enjoyed moderate success with their first singles, "Sugar", "Suite-Pee" and "Spiders", from their debut album System of a Down. However, their big break came from their critically acclaimed second album, Toxicity, which debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album was #1 in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single "Chop Suey!", released in the late summer of 2001. System of a Down received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with their hits, "Chop Suey!", "Toxicity", "Aerials", from their second album, Toxicity, and "Innervision" from their third album, Steal This Album!.
In November 2002 their third album, which contains songs which were recorded for but not included in the first two albums, was released under the name Steal This Album!. Early recordings of most of the songs had leaked out onto the internet and were well received by the fans resulting in the subsequent release. There are five different designs of the album available. One version of the CD resembles a CD Recordable that was labeled with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 copies of each of the other four featured designs were released. The four individual band members; Serj, Shavo, Daron and John; each designed one of the special covers.
In 2004, the band recorded two brand new albums named Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Mezmerize was released in the United States and Europe on May 17 2005, and in Australia on May 22 2005, while Hypnotize is to be released in the United States on November 22. In early January, 2005, a new track called "Cigaro" was purposely leaked onto the internet to be praised from fans, followed by the release of the single "B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs)", which worked its way up the North American singles charts. The next single was Question!, with bassist Shavo Odadjian co-directing the video. Mezmerize was a successful release for the band, immediately shooting up to the top of the US charts, making it the group's second consecutive number-one debut. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide, with the album debuting at number-one in over a dozen other countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, and France. The album has also been generally well received by critics.
Nu metal or not?
A common debate amongst fans of the band and heavy metal fans in general, is the topic of the band's genre: Are they nu metal (a term which to some people brings negative connotations) or is their music better described as simply heavy metal?
System of a Down have been labeled as nu metal by fans and media since their incarnation. This can be attributed to the release of their first album, which occurred during the nu metal boom of the mid-to-late 90's. Adding to this, the band toured with Ozzfest, a festival that typically features many up-and-coming nu metal bands. In addition to this, their music contains what some see as nu metal traits; they rarely feature guitar solos, use simple guitar riffs and often use a song structure typical of nu metal bands (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus).
Those who do not believe the nu metal genre applies to System of a Down argue that they have not included rapping or used turntables in any of their songs, these hip-hop influences are typical, if not defining traits of nu metal. Also, it does not appear that the band consider themselves to make nu metal music, guitarist Daron Malakian was quoted in the magazine Guitar World as saying that he was glad that System of a Down had not slipped into the nu metal genre.
On one of the band's spring 2005 tour concerts, Daron Malakian announced to the crowd, "They used to call us nü-metal, now they call us prog-rock. I think they'll call us anything that's popular." Then, after a pause and the subtlest of grins he said, "But actually, we're just a bunch of mo-rons."
Also in a 2005 interview with the Houston Press, Daron quoted, "Lately, we've been doing interviews, and people have been like, 'You guys are really leading the way for the new prog movement,' and I'm like, 'What?' Because a couple of years ago, these guys were comparing us to Limp Bizkit and Korn, and now that we're still here and those bands aren't, they're talking about prog. It's just kind of aggravating that people always have to have something to compare us to, or bunch us up with. I'm not saying we're the most original band in the world, but I don't really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal category or a pure rock category. There's a lot of stuff mixed up into one."
Members
Serj Tankian - Vocals, Guitars, & Keyboards
Daron Malakian - Guitars & Vocals
Shavo Odadjian - Bass & Vocals
John Dolmayan - Drums
Previous members
Andy Khachaturian - Drums
|
