“It’s a violent pornography…choking chicks and sodomy…the kind of shit you get o­n your TV.”
Over the years, Major Music Labels and A&R bigwigs have turned what was originally an art of rebellioninto a billion-dollar records and ‘artists’ cloning facility, frantically spurning out sounds and personas we’ve seen and heard a million times over. But every generation someone has to break that mold, someone has to ruffle some feathers in order to resuscitate a beleaguered industry. It is from these creative ashes that legends are born…to remind fans, artisans, society, that there really is a reason behind their distorted sonic mayhem. Reasons that go beyond what are typically typecast as nothing more than excuses to get drunk, get rowdy, get stupid, toss your hair violently, and slam into each otherlike rabid animals.

Now is then is here and now is System of a Down.

By some stroke of executive oversight, or, hell, maybe it was just luck, System of a Down have managed toslip through the cracks of mainstream rock n’ roll by providing the music community with a sound that truly adheres to what the style itself was all about.

“You and me will all go down in history…
with a sad Statue of Liberty…
and a generation that didn’t agree!”

Originating in the mid-90s with a 3-song demo that immediately blew away a vomitous post-grunge scene, vocalist Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian, and drummer John Dolmayan soon found themselves opening for Slayer and the annual travelling rock spectacle that is Ozzfest. Their sophomore record, 2001’s Toxicity, was released the week of 9-11, went multi-platinum, and is usually referred to as their ‘breakout’ album, but Malakian continues to make it a point to note that their self titled debut record was far from ignored, selling more than 500,000 copies thanks mostly to an Ironman touring schedule and word of mouth.

Less than a decade later, they’re sitting pretty as platinum selling artists 5 albums deep into a career that has seemingly just begun. This year has already seen the explosive release of Mesmerize and a full fledged country-wide sold out headlining tour with the Mars Volta. “They’ve been friends of ours for a while and I appreciate their music personally,” explains Serj. System’s second (yes, second) album of the year, Hypnotize, as of press time, has yet to even drop and has been o­ne of the most anticipated record of the year since Mesmerize, released a paltry 6 months prior.

But there’s more to these particular ‘rock stars’ than cocaine crazy groupies, monster metal drums and riffage, kabuki mushroom people, schizoid screams, and unbridled adolescent lyricism at play. They’ve got some shit goin’ o­n, shit that’s deeper than a porta-potty o­n a McDonald’s construction site. These individuals share a common bond that goes well beyond the substanceabuse fueled thread most would imagine… Genocide.


Check wavmag :  http://www.wavmag.com/index.php?sitepage=article&id=31


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