System of a Down is a alternative metal band from Los Angeles, California, USA consisting of Serj Tankian (vocals, keyboards), John Dolmayan (drums), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals) and Shavo Odadjian (bass). All four members are of Armenian ancestry, and some of their songs are about Armenian history and politics.

History, style and influences

Their diverse instrumentals range from baritone electric guitars, electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string classical guitars to many other East Asian instruments. Their main influence is noticeably the heavy metal veterans Black Sabbath and Slayer, but they have many other musical influences such as jazz, fusion, Armenian folk music, classic rock, blues, industrial metal, and, vocally, opera.

The band enjoyed moderate success with their first singles, "Sugar" and "Spiders", off their debut album System of a Down. However, their big break came from their sophomore effort, Toxicity, which debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually going multi-platinum . The album also has the dubious distinction of being the #1 album in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Their first big hit was the controversial "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", off their second album, Toxicity, and "Innervision" off their third album, Steal This Album!.

Their third album, containing songs from the Toxicity and System of a Down recording sessions, was released as Steal This Album! because early recordings of most of the songs had leaked out onto the Internet. There are four different designs of the album available. One version of the CD resembles a CD Recordable that was labeled with a felt-tip marker, and the other four featured designs by individual band members.

In 2004, the band recorded two brand new albums for release in 2005 that will be released 4 months apart from each other. They are Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Mesmerize will be released in May while Hypnotize will be released approximately four months after. The dates and order of release for these two albums were somewhat controversial among fans and fan sites in early 2005, as some believed that the release was to be in the opposite order and the first one was to come out in April. In early January, 2005, a new track called "Cigaro" was leaked onto the Internet (some say it was leaked by the band itself, considering it was leaked onto a web page which featured a "mesmerizing" spiral and was performed by the band at their Big Day Out appearances several days after the leak) to praise from fans.

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?

It is argued by some that System of a Down rarely feature guitar solos, use simple guitar riffs and have typical nu metal song structure (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus), and thus should be considered a nu metal band.

These arguments are counteracted by the fact that they have not included rap in any of their songs, a typical, if not defining, characteristic of nu metal, but instead use occasional screams and growls that are typical of death metal. Another typical component of nu metal, the turntable, is not part of the band's instrumentation.

System of a Down have been labelled 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 is typically features many up and coming nu metal bands.

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
• Daron Malakian - Guitar
• Shavo Odadjian - Bass
• John Dolmayan - Drums

Previous members

• Andy Khachaturian - Drums

Discography

1. System of a Down (30 June 1998)
2. Toxicity (4 September 2001)
3. Steal This Album! (26 November 2002)
4. Mezmerize (17 May, 2005)
5. Hypnotize (27 September, 2005)

Music videos

• "Sugar" from System of a Down (1998)
• "Spiders" from System of a Down (1999)
• "War?" from System of a Down (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) (announced, yet to be released)

Singles

• "Sugar" from System of a Down (1998)
• "Spiders" from System of a Down (1999)
• "War" from System Of A Down (2000)
• "Chop Suey!" from Toxicity (2001)
• "Toxicity" from Toxicity (2002)
• "Aerials" from Toxicity (2002)
• "Psycho" from Toxicity (2002)
• "Innervision" from Steal This Album! (2002)
• "Boom!" from Steal This Album! (2003)
• "I-E-A-I-A-I-O" from Steal This Album! (2003)
• "B.Y.O.B." from Mezmerize (2005)

Although "Cigaro", a song leaked from the upcoming Mezmerize/Hypnotize release, isn't officially a single, it has been played on the radio, specifically the Los Angeles, California station KROQ and the Belgian radio station Studio Brussel in early 2005. "Cigaro" is also part of the "B.Y.O.B." single on the iTunes Music Store.

External links

• Official Website
• System of a down at DMOZ
• Fan Website
• System of a Down Lyrics Collection
• Official Forums
• Soad-Life.de German Fanpage
• Toxic Ice unofficial System of a Down related forum