Where is system of a down from

After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, the band split up. But in they rejoined for a brand new album and are currently on tour. The name is based on a poem that Daron wrote. The poem's title was "Victims of the Down", but Shavo Odadjian , who was originally the band's manager and promoter, opted for changing "victims" for "system", not just for reaching a much wider audience, but also because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved closer to Slayer..

The band then found a drummer, Andy Khachaturian. System of a Down quickly made what is known as their early Untitled Demo Tap , which had very early recordings of " Mr. Jack " called "P. It is rumored that there are other tapes made, which contain early recordings of "Friik", " 36 ", and " Roulette ".

Two other songs, " X " and "Honey" were live demos at the time and were played at very early shows. After this, the band recorded three public demos, which have been numbered as Demo Tape 1 to 3 , as the early demo was not discovered until much later.

Many of the songs featured on the demos would eventually make their way onto the band's debut album. In mid , Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury. Showing great interest, they recorded yet another demo near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies.

The tape was not released to the public until years later when it was leaked onto the Internet. In the summer of , System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success with their first single " Sugar " becoming a radio favorite, followed by the single " Spiders ".

After the release of the album, System of a Down toured extensively, opening for Slayer before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Bungle , The Cat and Incubus providing support.

System was scheduled to play the Family Values Tour, but were kicked off by Fred Durst over his inability to sign the band Taproot. Fred Durst has since admitted that he was a "complete wanker" in relation to this "oversight". The band have yet to comment on Durst's involvement or commentary. In , the group contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song " Snowblind " to the Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at 1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album has since sold 6 million copies worldwide. It was still on top in America on the week of the September 11, attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single " Chop Suey!

Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the second single, " Toxicity ". Even with the controversy surrounding " Chop Suey! In , the band went on tour with Slipknot in the United States. In late , a few unreleased tracks made their way onto the Internet. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material. Soon after, the band released the final versions of the songs, which were recorded at the same time, but hadn't been used for Toxicity.

We were in two adjoining hospital beds, getting our stitches. We laughed about it while we were in the beds. Would that happen today? David Benveniste manager : What makes them incredible is that heat between them. In summer , the band and Rubin whittled down the tracklist from the more than 30 songs recorded for Toxicity.

There was a lot of internal anticipation. Brandy Flower art designer : Each band member had a different idea of what they wanted for the album cover, and Rick was the fifth band member.

Rick came with a photo of a crowd from the s at some political protest. Odadjian: We tracked all the music in Studio 2. There was a wooden door with a wooden no. I took a picture of that. This is our second record.

Everyone knows Vartan. John was this comic book nerd. He probably wanted something illustrated. Odadjian: I was picking a bunch of names, and nobody was agreeing with it. For some reason, our band agreed to be unanimous always—so fucked up. Flower: One of the guys working with them, Mark Wakefield, had designed a web banner—a lo-res image of the Hollywood sign, but it said System of a Down.

It ended up being something that resonated with Shavo. Odadjian: I walked outside of Cello Studios and saw the Hollywood sign. This is our hometown. Eventually, they all got on board for the Hollywood sign idea. Odadjian: When the album cover became the Hollywood sign, the art that goes behind the CD is that 2 on the door. The puzzle pieces were all there.

We just had to fit them in the little holes. Flower: It was a perfect album cover because it was something people were familiar with, but they made it their own. It was a lot of Photoshopping hours.

As more details surfaced about Toxicity , the release date was pushed from mid-August to Tuesday, September 4, Yes, you are. I love that. As decisive as Malakian appeared, he was his own worst critic. Flower: Looking back, you could tell how fruitful this moment was.

You have to put out just one album. I went down to Burbank where they were mixing. Daron was in the backseat, and his eyes were getting wider as we were listening. It was an intense experience for him to play this for someone for the first time. Malakian: I was so focused on doing my part to deliver. The public, the pressure, the press, and the hype made me become more of a hermit. I just never left my house. Tankian: We never had anyone else in mind but ourselves when we wrote and recorded.

Dolmayan: The deck was stacked against us. We were not commercially viable. We looked different. You name it. But there was something undeniable about our sound. We were different enough but pop-centric and melodic enough to break through the barriers. Tankian: Given our left-of-center music, performance, and inability to fit in, our success is still a mystery.

This was still a very pop-centric market. Those who had seen System of a Down live knew how fierce their shows could be. It was intense as fuck. The result was anything but.

Flower: We all went to the album release show, and the tension was thick. Knowing how big these guys had already gotten in a few months, the way that the area was laid out, the presence of the police … it felt like a setup. Are you sure this is big enough? The night before our show, I heard there were already some fans there so I went. By the time I got there at 10 p. By morning, there were 6, people. By the time we were supposed to play, there were 10, people in a place that could accommodate 3, Odadjian: It felt like half of L.

It was no longer about music. It was a very rare cultural phenomenon happening. Appleford: I was in the photo pit. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy.

Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Romantic Sad Sentimental. Sexy Trippy All Moods. Drinking Hanging Out In Love. Introspection Late Night Partying. But some of his bandmates are more hopeful that System will resume at some point in the future.

I was ready to put out my next Scars record. This kind of happened out of the blue, so who knows. But it was nice to do this. Newswire Powered by. Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization. Please log in. For assistance, contact your corporate administrator.

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