Eighteen years ago today, the Armenian alternative metal band System Of A Down released their fifth studio album “Hypnotize.” System Of A Down’s music is unlike any other made in history; their music is a beautiful blend of Armenian folk music, metal, and politically charged lyrics. According to grammy.com the band received 4 Grammy nominations and in 2006, the band took home the Grammy award for “Best Hard Rock Performance.”
“Hypnotize” is objectively one of the most experimental albums that the band has ever released. On this album, the band experiments with operatic vocals, Middle Eastern melodies, and cheeky lyrics, on the song “Vicinity of Obscenity,” Serj Tankian (lead singer) repeatedly sings in the chorus, “Banana, banana, banana, terracotta/ Banana terracotta, terracotta pie.”
While the album features some fun and goofy songs, the album also features tracks with socially and politically charged lyrics including “Attack” and “Holy Mountains.” “Attack” features in its chorus, “We attack, all the years of propaganda/ We shall attack,” and in the outro Tankian sings, “Attack all the homes and villages/ Attack all the schools and hospitals/ You attack all the rapes and pillages/ We shall attack, we shall attack.” The song is a criticism of war or war crimes in particular, whose lyrics are still relevant today.
“Holy Mountains” is arguably the strongest song on the album. It’s emotionally charged and references Mount Arat which, according to genius.com, is an important symbol in Armenian culture. The song discusses the people that lost their lives to the Armenian genocide and have gone to rest on the mountain.
Since the release of “Hypnotize,” the band hasn’t released another album, Daron Malakian (guitarist) told Billboard that the band split up due to creative differences. He said, “Serj was never really a heavy metal or a rock guy… I don’t know if he has the same love for this kind of music as I do…” After the band broke up Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian have worked on their own independent musical projects.
Tankian has since branched out into art and music composition for television and film, currently he’s working on his memoir titled, “Down With The System.” According to serjtankian.com, some scores he has worked on were for Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, and Terry George’s film The Promise.
According to allmusic.com, Malakian has continued to make music as well. The guitarist created his own band in 2006, called “Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway,” two years later the band released their first song titled, “They Say.”
The other members of the band John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian are doing their own thing. As reported by blabbermouth.net, Dolmayan started his own comic book store called “Torpedo Comics” where the drummer wrote his own comic book titled, “Ascencia: Talisman Saga: Part1.” Odadjian, according to billboard, formed a new music group called “North Kingsley,” in 2020.
System Of A Down has had a big impact on heavy metal, they elevated the genre with their experimental and eclectic style of music. Their music is truly one of a kind and they will go down in history as one of the greatest bands of all time.
