System of a Down

System of a Down played their first show in more than two years last night at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile arena, which gave them the opportunity to finally perform their new songs “Genocidal Humanoidz” and “Protect the Land” live. Both songs came out last year and marked the band’s first new music in 15 years. “[This song is] about some piece of shit government that tried again to kill our people. Fuck the genocidal humanoidz!” guitarist Daron Malakian declared to the crowd before diving into the track. Prior to “Protect the Land,” singer Serj Tankian discussed the somber inspiration behind both songs and thanked fans for being part of the cause. “The combined forces of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Syria mercenaries attacked a peaceful people living in Nagorno-Karabakh who have been living there on thei...

A couple of months after releasing their first new music in 15 years, System of a Down have shared a poignant video for “Genocidal Humanoidz.” The visuals blend footage of the band performing with an animated story showing Armenian resilience and were directed by SOAD’s Shavo Odadjian and Deep Sky Animation’s Adam Mason. In the clip, a young boy visits the ruins of a wartorn village. Demons begin materializing, but so do forget-me-nots (the symbol of the Armenian genocide centennial). With the help of fellow townspeople, he’s able to extinguish the evil. The video premiered during a livestream to raise funds for rehabilitation efforts for Armenian soldiers suffering from traumatic injuries. Before the event, SOAD had already raised $600,000 for the Armenia Fund, and at the time o...

While his System of a Down bandmates have been out promoting their new music and discussing the future of the group, drummer John Dolmayan continues to spew right-wing rhetoric that seems to stray from the political band’s typical views. As a guest on the podcast Cancelled with Rob Rosen and Desma Simon (which invites people who have been “canceled” by society for one reason or another to tell their side of the story), Dolmayan doubled down on his controversial views after being a somewhat surprising voice of reason in the fallout of the insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month. According to Dolmayan, he and his various non-System creative projects have been “blacklisted” due to his political views. “I’ve already been a victim of this, and it’s no different and no bett...

System of a Down will premiere a music video for their single “Genocidal Humanoidz” as part of a livestream event that will raise funds for rehabilitation efforts for Armenian soldiers suffering from traumatic injuries.  The livestream will launch at 9 am PT/12 pm ET on Jan. 30, and will begin with interviews with guests including Armenia Fund USA rep Maria Mehranian, Armenian-American musician Sebu Simonian, along with Harvard clinician Dr. Lilit Garibyan, who leads “Face Of Angel,” a charity that aims to provide medical scar laser treatments to soldiers with burn and trauma scars. The tune follows System of a Down’s release of their “Protect the Land” single. Between the two songs, the band have raised $600,000 for the Armenian Fund. This is their first new material since 2005’...

System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and Shavo Odadjian chatted with Zane Lowe on Apple Music on Wednesday, in which the rockers discussed both the band’s tumultuous past as well as the two new songs they released in support of justice for their Armenian brethren. While the interview with the vocalist and bassist covered several different topics, an obvious focal point was on the philosophical differences that sparked the band’s unceremonious breakup in 2006 despite seemingly being at the peak of their success following the previous year’s double release of Mesmerize and Hypnotize. For Tankian, the physical drain of touring is a concern these days, but it was ultimately the difference in views on the creative process that drove he and co-songwriter Daron Malakian apart 15 ye...