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System of a Down is an alternative metal band from Glendale, California, USA consisting of Serj Tankian (vocals, keyboards), John Dolmayan (drums), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals) and Shavo Odadjian (bass), and known for their distinctive dress styles and goatees. All four members are of Armenian ancestry, and some of their songs are about Armenian-related issues (including the Armenian Genocide). A common dispute amongst fans is their genre of music.

History, style and influences

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 noticeably 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 going multi-platinum. 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, containing songs which were recorded for, but not included in the first two albums was released as 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 approximately four to six months later. The dates and order of release for these two albums were somewhat controversial among fans in early 2005, as some believed that the release was supposed to be in the opposite order and the first one was supposed to be released in April. 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 is working its way up the North American singles charts. The band has also announced that song 8, 'Question!' will be the second single from the album, with bassist Shavo Odadjian directing the video. Mezmerize has been 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.

Members

• Serj Tankian - Vocalist & Keyboardist & Guitar
• Daron Malakian - Guitar & Vocals
• Shavo Odadjian - Bass
• John Dolmayan - Drums

Previous members

• Andy Khachaturian - Drums

Discography

Albums

1. System of a Down (30 June 1998) #124 US
2. Toxicity (4 September 2001) #1 US, #13 UK
3. Steal This Album! (26 November 2002) #15 US, #56 UK
4. Mezmerize (17 May, 2005) #1 US, #2 UK

Singles

Music videos

• "Sugar" from System of a Down (1998)
• "Spiders" from System of a Down (1999)
• "War?" from System of a Down (2000)
• "Metro" from "Dracula 2000 Soundtrack" (2000)
• "Chop Suey!" from Toxicity (2001)
• "Aerials" from Toxicity (2002)
• "Toxicity" from Toxicity (2002)
• "Boom!" from Steal This Album! (2003)
• "B.Y.O.B." from Mezmerize (2005)
• "Question!" from Mezmerize (2005)

External links

Official websites

• System of a Down website
• System of a Down forums
• System of a Down street team at Streetwise.com

Fan websites

• System of a Down Online
• SOADFans — A fan site with a large community
• Soad-Life.de — A German language fan site.
• Toxic Ice — An unofficial System of a Down related forum
• Toxicity.com.br — A Brazillian, Portuguese language fan site

Other related sites

• System of a Down featured on Yahoo! Music's artist of the month page
• System of a down at theDMOZ open directory
• An interview with Serj dated July 2005
• A System of a Down lyrics collection
• Another System of a Down lyrics collection

• 1990s music groups
• American musical groups
• Armenian musical groups
• Heavy metal musical groups