- Toxicity · 2001
- Toxicity · 2001
- Toxicity · 2001
- Hypnotize · 2005
- Mezmerize · 2005
- System Of A Down (Deluxe Edition) · 1998
- Toxicity · 2001
- Hypnotize · 2005
- Toxicity · 2001
- Toxicity · 2001
- System Of A Down (Deluxe Edition) · 1998
- Mezmerize · 2005
- Steal This Album! · 2002
Essential Albums
- On Mezmerize, System of a Down pulverize the mainstream with hypercharged, expletive-soaked tantrums. Frontman Serj Tankian screams and barks with all the rapid-fire speed of a cattle auctioneer; just as intense are Daron Malakian’s guitar parts, which are equal parts hardcore, alt-metal, and madness.
- There is nothing subtle about Toxicity: With uncompromising politics and vicious satire, art-metal surrealists System of a Down go for the jugular. Society is sick and dying, and singer Serj Tankian can’t decide if he’s delighted, disgusted, or both. "Shimmy" and the title cut are dizzyingly complex, rage-fueled monstrosities, and “Psycho” is even more spastic. With shuddering, start-stop rhythms, the band go absolutely ballistic while Tankian shouts about cocaine, groupies, and madness. The spooky, Middle Eastern-tinged "Arto" fittingly closes out this end-of-days soundtrack.
Albums
- 2021
- 2020
- 2006
- 2005
- 2005
- 2005
Artist Playlists
- Giving nu-metal an avant-garde identity.
- Their taste in music is as impossible to pigeonhole as their sound.
Appears On
- Ara Malikian & Serj Tankian
More To Hear
- Strombo celebrates 20 years of the album 'Toxicity.'
- The System of a Down vocalist talks about his latest album.
- Serj talks about his solo LP and documentary 'Truth to Power.'
- The band shares an important message behind their music.
More To See
About System Of A Down
System Of A Down rose to prominence in the age of nu-metal, but the group’s socially conscious lyrics have far more in common with the ’90s punk underground and political firebrands such as Rage Against the Machine. The California band’s songs condemn war, violence, and oppression, with 2005’s “Holy Mountains” specifically raising awareness of the Armenian Genocide, an early-20th-century event that affected family members of frontman Serj Tankian. Guitarist Daron Malakian and Tankian initially started playing music together in the early ’90s. On the group’s self-titled 1998 debut, piledriving metal riffs and Tankian’s gruff vocals made them mainstream metal darlings; the band opened for Slayer and Metallica and landed a slot on Ozzfest. However, beginning with 2001’s Toxicity, System Of A Down leaped into an entirely distinct musical realm, thanks to Malakian’s unorthodox approach to composition. Unique time signatures, dizzying rhythmic passages, and Tankian’s motormouthed vocal delivery collided with inventive guitar work based around stinging riffs (“B.Y.O.B.”), evocative soundscapes (“Aerials”), and prog-caliber complexity (“Hypnotize”). In the hands of other bands, this combination might have sounded convoluted or chaotic, but System Of A Down’s methodical technique and intellectual bent led to greatness up until 2005’s Hypnotize, after which the band took an extended hiatus from recording to focus on live dates.
- ORIGIN
- Los Angeles, CA, United States
- FORMED
- 1994
- GENRE
- Hard Rock