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.

YES, FUCKING yes. Every now and again rock music needs a reminder that it can be inventive, absurd, challenging and sell millions. System Of A Down are that reminder. Up against newer, younger, more visibly tormented souls who just about pass for rock stars these days, they make this shit too easy.

This, their third proper album, matches anything they’ve don’t to dates and is nothing less than a sledge-hammer to the senses, an explosion where riffs fly like shrapnel and lyrics are reduced to seemingly nonsensical slogans that somehow still evoke an image, a thought or an emotion even if it’s confusion.

L.A (Billboard) - Few acts can trot out a Peter Jennings newsreel before a concert and have a hard-rock audience of 6,000 erupt in cheers. For fans of System of a Down, however, a pre-show report o­n genocide is as fitting as a guitar solo.

It is a Sunday night in late April, and System of a Down is staging its third hometown concert to benefit human rights and genocide awareness organizations. The group is about to embark o­n a world tour, and the L.A. crowd has gathered not to see the band off or hear a glimpse of its upcoming material. Instead, the atmosphere at the Gibson Amphitheater (formerly Universal Amphitheater) is that of a family reunion, where high schoolers and adults stand and cheer a heavy metal guitar line -- or an ABC news clip from 1999 -- all in the name of Armenian heritage.

"This band didn't start to change the world," guitarist/songwriter Daron Malakian later says from the stage. "This band didn't start to change your mind. This band started just to make you ask questions."

EMP Magazine got a great interview with System of a down in their summer issue entitled : Insanity with method !

The countdown is running: 4 years after ”Toxicity” System of a Down return with big drum beat: ”Mesmerize” and ”Hypnotize” are two separate, new records, released over six months and letting the innovative style-mix of metal, punk and Armenian folklore culminate ultimately.
How that works and what's behind it was reported by guitarist and mastermind, Daron Malakian.