It was 1995. Bill Clinton was president of the United States, O.J. Simpson was acquitted in the trial of the century and four Armenian guys in Los Angeles decided to get together to form System Of A Down, a band that has since become one of music’s most anomalous and experimental ensembles.

Fusing thrashabout metal and traces of Old World sounds with impassioned vocals and lyrics that teeter between the fervently political to the overtly puerile, it’s obvious that vocalist Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan never planned on going with the flow.

Now, nearly four years after releasing 2001’s multi-platinum-selling Toxicity, the group is ready to unleash their most prolific opus to date, Mesmerize/Hypnotize, the album possesses much of the same urgency found on past recordings, only this time the vocal exchange between frontman and guitarist has taken on a larger role.

“There’s definitely more interplay between Daron and me,” says Tankian. “The way we harmonize and the different pitches of our voices have changed the sound of our band.”

Like many System songs, the title track “Hypnotize” finds Serj and Daron harmonizing o­n the same line (“I’m just sitting in my car / Waiting for my girl”) yet the textural differences between the two keep it interesting. Meanwhile, the band’s herky-jerky tendencies remain intact o­n tracks ranging from the raucous “Cigaro” and “B.Y.O.B.” (which stands for “Bring Your Own Bombs” and pairs an R&B-like party vibe with weighty lyrics about war) to “Lost in Hollywood” (a phony-people-suck power ballad) and “Vicinity of Obscenity,” an irrepressibly screwy homage to Frank Zappa that dishes out absurd lyrics like “Feel the sweet / Beat the meat.”

“System has always had a broad spectrum of songs,” says a remarkably mellow Malakian o­n a sunny February afternoon. “We’ve had heavier songs and lighter songs, like o­n Toxicity we have ‘Aerials’ and we have ‘Prison Song.’ You’ll see that same diversity in this record, but with different songs.”

A couple of weeks later o­n a drizzly March day, Tankian, bearing that peaceful Mona Lisa smile he does so well, echoes a similar sentiment. “Our new songs have themes that we hit upon in the past, so there’s still that System continuity,” he remarks. “But there are new things we address, too. Actually, I think a lot of the songs are sillier.”

Even the most sobering songs have a funny twinge to them, says Tankian. “Something as serious as ‘B.Y.O.B.’ is done in a really silly fashion with its funky chorus, and I think it works with us really well.”

But while the music does have a certain novelty about it, lambasting refrains like “Why don’t presidents fight the war? / Why do they always send the poor?” prove the band is by no means taking a rest from being political.

“I’ve figured out that it’s not really people that refer to us as a political band, it’s journalists,” says Tankian. “It’s understandable because [journalists] don’t generally talk to bands that really say anything. We are a very socially conscious band, but we’re also very humorous. I think that’s why people swallow our pill — because it’s a pill disguised as not being a pill.”

That pill is easiest swallowed when the testosterone is curbed and the intonations of their Armenian heritage are able to take center stage as they do o­n the lilting track “Question.” Opening with flamenco-like guitars and Tankian gently singing “Sweet berries for two / Ghosts are no different than you / Ghosts are now waiting for you,” the song later crescendos with Tankian’s mesmeric bellows and Malakian’s piquant vocals asking, “Do we, do we know / When we fly / When we, when we go / Do we die?” It’s these kinds of moments when the resultant sound can o­nly be summed up in an adjective almost never used when describing metal: beautiful.

With some 30 tracks in total, Mezmerize/Hypnotize is indeed both an earful and a mouthful. But as has been the case since the beginning, Malakian — whose father Vartan Malakian did the artwork for the album — believes that what happens now is beside the point. “I’m probably more scared than I am excited, to be honest with you. But I’m confident people are gonna like it. At the same time, it would be just as important to me if no o­ne ever heard it. You’ve got to understand that my dad’s been an artist my whole life and he’s never shown people his art. And that’s where I come from. I don’t care about whether or not anyone is going to accept it. What it comes down to is having that emotion come out of me and being true to the art.”

Likewise, Tankian, who says he finds inspiration from “visuals, sound, music, motion and movies” to “conversations and wind chimes,” affirms that the creative process is really what it’s all about. “I think the best artists are those that do what our vision tells us to do regardless of recognition. We never started this to be a critically acclaimed band or a popularly accepted band. That’s after the fact, so it’s a double blessing and we’re grateful. But if there were no praise or popularity, we’d still be doing what we want to do.”

Such talk may seem idle considering System Of A Down has already reaped mainstream acclaim and multimillion sales. But Malakian is careful to point out the history of the band’s commercial success. “Before Toxicity blew up, our first record went gold and then some. And that was strictly off touring; no singles, no nothing. It wasn’t until the powers-that-be got a hold of it that System was constantly getting played o­n the MTVs and KROQs of the world,” he explains.

“And that’s exactly why we’ve taken so damn long to put out another fucking record,” he reveals.

“When I saw that happen and I saw that we put out three singles [from Toxicity] and all of a sudden everybody in the mall knows who the fuck I am, I realized that we had to go away. Yeah, we put out Steal this Album!. But we didn’t tour and we put out o­ne single. And the reason we put out the single ‘Boom!’ was because we felt we had to because the war was coming out and we had an opportunity to say something. It was more of an integrity thing.”

That the band has maintained their level of integrity is “the reason we’re ten years old,” Malakian declares. “We’re not big because we’re four cute guys! It’s because we’re honest. It’s because the o­ne thing you can’t fuck with is someone going out there and really doing it o­n their own. It’s because we speak the things that people don’t have the balls to say.”

After talking with Malakian for hours, it becomes clear that Mezmerize/Hypnotize, like everything else in System, has been a labor of love. Having produced the album with Rick Rubin and having written the music and a bulk of the lyrics (not to mention actually playing many of the instruments), Malakian undoubtedly plays a central role in the band.

“There’s no law in System Of A Down. There’s no rule that says o­ne day John won’t play some keyboards or that I might get behind the drums or that Shavo will sing. It’s all about how to make the song better.”

Even so, o­ne wonders if there isn’t a Malakian solo project o­n the horizon.

“I always want to be a part of a band, I want to be a part of a group,” he promptly replies. “I’m not about calling it ‘The Daron Malakian Show.’ Serj plays a big part in what happens with System Of A Down. I write a lot of the shit, but there are a lot of things that he comes in with lyrically. What he and the other guys bring to the table is important and I don’t want to discredit anybody. I don’t have any reason to have it be a solo project to cater to my ego. I dig being with those guys, even kind of being the quiet o­ne. I know that’s tough to believe after seeing me o­n stage, but it’s true.”

As the discussion comes to a close, Malakian says this: “There’s a line from o­ne of our old songs ‘War’ that Serj wrote, and his line was ‘You must enter a room to destroy it.’ So when we’re being played o­n the radio and o­n television, to me it’s like we’ve entered a room and that’s our way of destroying it. We have more access now and power not to necessarily destroy the powers that be, but to destroy their way of doing things.”

For Malakian, “their” way of doing things is “playing it safe” in a world that requires courage and reform. “I think a lot of these powerful outlets like MTV clog themselves with bands that follow a formula and don’t say much. We don’t move in that direction. We’re moving with complete animal instinct. It’s like the drug companies coming in and telling me this drug’s good and this drug’s bad. They put out ads for new drugs that make your dick longer and they’re like, it’s great, look how happy everyone is dancing in the fucking commercial. They put out antidepressants like candy. So who’s deciding? Same with the radio trying to dictate what’s good and what’s bad.”

“The fact that we’re four Armenian guys from L.A. … who would’ve imagined that shit?” he muses. “That’s what I mean about entering a room and destroying it. I don’t think we’re gonna change the world, but I do believe that we can make some kind of dent.”

When it’s time to say goodbye to Tankian during his interview, the always-humble frontman puts it all in perspective. “We do System because we love it. It’s not o­ne of those things that we can fake. To some, success means making lots of money or having people like you. To me, success is based o­n following your path. If I wasn’t happy doing what I’m doing, then I would just stop.”

A decade has come and gone for System Of A Down. Let’s hope the path has a long way to go.

Photo by Kevin Scanlo "We’re not big because we’re four cute guys! It’s because we’re honest."-SOAD

Article wrote By Mar Yvette

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