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SOADFans: Can’t Fight the System ! |
Posted by ZAk on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 06:40 PM
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With their new double CD, Mesmerize/Hypnotize, Los Angeles rockers System of a Down take on politics, the environment, the war and, most aggressively, Tony Danza.
It looks more like the set of Hellraiser than an estate on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The front-door knockers are carved stone skulls; a goblin with its eyes and mouth sewn shut dangles from the door handle; and on a marble table in the hallway, several more fleshless heads grin ominously. The dining room of this home, owned by System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian, is even more macabre. Skulls are scattered across the top of a baby grand piano, and a life-size skeleton lounges on a leather couch. Or maybe it’s just one of those anorexic groupies we’ve heard about.
It’s like an upscale Manson Mansion. After all, Charlie’s image is virtually everywhere—smirking from a poster next to a picture of John Lennon, peering from the face of an inflatable toy, even mingling into one of several canvases painted by Daron’s artist dad, Vartan Malakian, who created much of the artwork for Mezmerize/Hypnotize, the band’s new two-disc set. (Mezmerize hits stores May 17; Hypnotize will follow in the late fall.)
“I asked my father to make me a painting of Manson, and this is what he made,” the soft-spoken rocker says proudly, pointing to a work of violently splattered red streaks, a fragmented face and a naked female doll taped to the middle of the piece. “He painted what’s inside Manson’s head. That, to me, is amazing.”
And disturbing. While Daron doesn’t exactly support Manson’s whole killing-people lifestyle, he agrees with his conservationist views on the environment, which inspired the song “ATWA” on SOAD’s 2001 breakout disc, Toxicity. He also shares Manson’s hatred of the destructive nature of mankind—not to mention his love of Slim Jims. “I’ve always had a problem with society,” he says from one end of an L-shaped sofa, before sucking on a tall, clear bong. “Pretty much everything I do is motivated by anger.”
NEW RAGE MUSIC
As John Lydon once screamed, anger is an energy, but it’s not such a great ingredient for keeping a group together. After all, look what happened to the Manson family. Still, as nearly every metal band from Black Sabbath to White Zombie has proven, rage rocks. Daron’s particular aggression colors System’s songs like a bad ketchup stain, and his fascination with violence and Scandinavian black metal echoes through the band’s buzz-saw riffs and machine-gun beats. The guitarist is also inspired by hardcore, new wave, pop, Armenian music and the Preview Channel, giving his music as much dimension as dementia.
And even though the music he creates with his three Armenian bandmates—singer Serj Tankian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan—is extreme, millions have tuned in to see what the fuss is about. Their strong political views have inspired a legion of fans to actually read newspapers—or at least flip to Headline News for 10 minutes a day.
System of a Down formed in 1995 and three years later released their bludgeoning self-titled debut. The more melodic Toxicity sold three million copies without sacrificing any of the band’s trademark psychosis. Like those discs, Mezmerize and Hypnotize are disjointed and harsh. Jagged guitars intersect with funk; hardcore clashes with harmony; the tempos speed up and suddenly brake like a driver’s-ed student.
The sound is a byproduct of turbulent studio sessions. At one point, Daron took over Shavo’s bass duties because Shavo didn’t have his parts down. But that paled in comparison to the sessions for Toxicity, which ended in bloodshed.
“We fuckin’ threw down,” Daron says. “John and I were totally going at it. My lip was cut up, and I took a microphone stand and hit him across the head. His head was all bashed in. But we’re brothers, and right after we fought, we took each other to the hospital and got stitched up right next to each other. Both of us were sitting there laughing, saying, ‘This is one of the baddest moments in the history of our band.’”
<SPAN id=sourceLbl>Published in Stuff Magazine, <SPAN id=dateLbl>5/6/2005
<SPAN id=byLbl>By Jon Wiederhorn
(Thanks Doubledown)
<A href="http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1005" target=_blank>Read the full article on Stuff Magazine website.
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Comments
bornINsin
15.05.05, 21:13
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Awesome.
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newbcannon
15.05.05, 21:26
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a mike stand? wtf
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Howardmcdoogle
15.05.05, 21:37
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lol, aw man, brilliant. John could totally take daron though, if it were to be a real fight, no weapons, daron would get hammered i think, but aw well, tis all good!
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bornINsin
15.05.05, 21:53
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I agree newbcannon, although I do know some small guys who go completely psycho when fighting.
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newbcannon
15.05.05, 22:04
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wonder hopw he hit him. like did he pick him up and swing it or what
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bornINsin
15.05.05, 22:36
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Hm, I'd kind of rather not know. lol
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faceeraser
16.05.05, 01:11
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dude thats fucking bad ass, thats the true meaning of brother hood, I mean if I could tell you of the fights me and my guitarist have had over the past year and a half it would take hours to read. But we always got tired made sure we were ok and took a hit of a really nice glass pipe and laughed about how we must have looked rolling around his back yard kicking the crap out of each other. and yes us small guys do go pretty fucking psycho when were fighting.
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eSouth
16.05.05, 01:26
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John could pwn Daron any day. -_-
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BroughtMyOwnBomb
16.05.05, 02:48
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Eh. It's understandable that when people who like, have known each other for like, forever, fight and kick each other's asses and then go to the hospital and get stitched up and laugh their asses off about it. I mean, c'mon, fight your best friend, and then tell him your sorry, and then laugh at each other. You'll find that if he doesn't hate you, he's gonna be there for you when you murder someone. And about Daron getting pwned, yeah, probably. Daron a tiny fucker, and John's like a head taller. But I wouldn't put it past Daron to get a chair or something. They're all just crazy bastards and we love them for it.
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padeedleedle
16.05.05, 15:37
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haha daron had to use a weapon.. XD what a loser.. shoulda faught liek a man with fists..
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PimpTh3Syst3m
16.05.05, 18:15
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<FONT face=Arial size=2>haha for some reason I don't believe Daron
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StupidJew
16.05.05, 18:51
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i think it's daron who starts the fights. you know, i really am startin to dislike daron quite a bit. but at least they shook afterward, even if it wasn't sincere.
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howlin_pele
16.05.05, 18:52
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no ive heard a little bit about that before but not the details, that brotherhood better make the band last awhile too
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LastStand
17.05.05, 00:54
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Would that be where Daron got that scar on his lip? I've been wondering about that for quite some time. Anyone know? Upper lip, his left side... I love that article. Fucking hilarious.
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rockandroll
17.05.05, 02:30
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can somebody send me sad statue i dont have it
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rehab
17.05.05, 12:06
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buy the album you cheap fuck!
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dill
18.05.05, 23:25
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people who download music from a band they "say" they love are fukin pathetic
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Whyte_Wydow_Spyder
20.05.05, 17:42
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I understand Daron, when he picked up something and hit him. I would have done the same thing. He's not very big is he? At least they made up again afterwards. Thats more like brothers than anything! When do brothers ever get on for too long? and when you spend too much time with someone they atart to get on your nerves.
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