In the beginning (1995-1996)

System of a Down came about after a band from L.A called Soil (which featured Serj and Daron) broke up. Serj and Daron formed a new band straight away, and they already knew Shavo Odadjian from when their previous band shared a recording studio with Shavo’s previous band. Shavo was originally the bands manager and promoter. Later Shavo quickly accepted the offer to join the band as the permanent bassist. Since then managerial duties have been undertaken by highly successful Velvet Hammer Music and streetwise founder David "Beno" Beneviste. One of their first releases was ‘Sugar,’ which has become one of their most famous songs to date, and they have played it at almost every live performance. They found a drummer, Andy Khachaturian, who joined the band. They then released three demo tapes, now easy to find anywhere, that can be found here.

Debut album (1997-2000)

System of a Down’s self-titled debut album

After the third demo was released Andy left the band and John Dolmayan was hired to replace him. The band signed on to Rick Rubin's label and in the summer of 1998, 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 singles 'Spiders' and 'War?' . 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. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle and Incubus providing support. In 2000, the group contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song 'Snowblind' to the Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

Mainstream success: Toxicity/Steal This Album! (2001-2003)

The rock 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, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single 'Chop Suey!' causing it to be taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the second single, 'Toxicity' . Even with the controversy surrounding 'Chop Suey!' for which they earned a Grammy nomination, System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with their hits, 'Toxicity' and 'Aerials' . In May of 2006, VH1 listed Toxicity in the #14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

In late 2001, 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. The result was their third album, 'Steal This Album!', released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, 'Steal This Book' and as a message to those who stole the songs and released them on the Internet. John said in an interview "I don’t care if fans download our songs from the internet but I don’t like it when fans get our songs before the release date". The singles 'Innervision' and 'I-E-A-I-A-I-O' were released as radio-only promos and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for 'Boom!' was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq.

Mezmerize/Hypnotize (2004-2006)

System of a Down on the cover of Revolver Magazine

From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, 'Mezmerize/Hypnotize', with the two parts released six months apart. The first part, Mezmerize, was released in May 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down’s second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The explosive Grammy Award-winning single 'B.Y.O.B' which questions the integrity of war, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, 'Question!' was released with bassist Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting. Following the release of the 'Hypnotize' single, the second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released in November 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with the Beatles and rapper DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, 'Lonely Day' was released in March, in the US. In February of 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for their single 'B.Y.O.B' , beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and rock veteran Robert Plant. SOAD will headline Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opts not to appear or is not playing on the main stage.

Hiatus and the future of the band (2006-present)

In May of 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Guitarist Daron Malakian has confirmed the break will probably last a few years, but insists that the band is not splitting up. He tells MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over 10 years, and I think it's healthy for us to get away from it for a while and come back to it later on. So, this is probably going to be... well, it's not a farewell tour, but it's going to be a little while before we go out again." He adds, "I'll always be a member of System Of A Down. That will never change. There isn't a rule that says you have to make records constantly, like clockwork, to continue being who you are." Malakian claims that he needs a break from the band because he wants to live his life more. He has written the majority of the music for the band for ten straight years.^[1]

Even though various members of System of a Down have insisted that the hiatus is NOT a break up, at the kick off of Ozzfest '06, on June 29, the band appeared to be on the verge of a break up. In one particular instance, Daron improvised lyrics from Lonely Day, changing them to "Such a lonely day, hanging out with the band/ This motherfucker, I can't stand" while looking at vocalist Serj Tankian. However, according to Lauren Valencia of Velvet Hammer (System's management company) not only was that statement never made but the band is closer than ever. On July 8th, while playing Lonely Day, Daron improvised the lyrics to, "Such a lonely day, with the band/I love these guys right here." Tankian quickly followed that by stating "everybody should mind their own business!" During their performance in Houston, Daron also took a moment to say, "There's been a lot of rumors about us breaking up. Well don't fucking listen to them. Us four right here, we will always be System of a Down!"

During the Hiatus, Daron will be in a band called Scars on Broadway, and will have its debut album out in fall. Shavo might be participating in this, but he has plans with the Wu-Tang Clan. Serj plans to keep recording as a solo artist in "Serjical Strike", while John plans to open a comic book store online, which should be up online in November 2007.

System of a Down's final performance before their scheduled hiatus will take place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, FL. At Ozzfest, System of a Down made it clear that they support Lebanon (birthplace of Dolmayan and Tankian) in Israel's attacks against it; by having a Lebanese flag in the projector on their stage.

As of this moment there aren't any plans to record any new albums, following the scheduled hiatus.

Influences

The cover of System of a Down’s latest album, Hypnotize.

System of a Down’s main influence is mostly from early alternative rock bands, as well as from heavy metal, punk rock, jazz, fusion, Armenian folk music (Harout, Paul, Armik) classic rock, blues, industrial genres, and definitely Middle Eastern music from Lebanon (Dolmayan and Tankian were born there). The band has used a wide range of instruments, including baritone electric guitars, electric mandolins, sitars, 12-string guitars and Middle Eastern ouds. Daron has stated on several accounts that his songwriting is inspired heavily by The Beatles. ^{[citation needed]}

Genre dispute

There is some contention over the band's genre.

System of a Down has been labeled as "nu metal" by some fans and media since their incarnation. This can be attributed to the release of their first album, which occurred during the “nu metal” boom of the mid-to-late '90s, though they'd actually been making music and touring before nu-metal had been created. The song structure is also arguably done mostly conventionally and there is some rap influence in a few of the songs, such as "Bounce" and "Chop Suey!". Serj Tankian also once did a Wu Tang Clan cover on the Loud Rocks compilation.

Those who disagree with the nu metal label argue that System of a Down feature guitar riffs strongly reminiscent of those found in thrash metal. There are guitar solos in certain songs on every album and the drumming tempo doesn't rise above the midtempo range of the chorus and bridges. The lyrics also extend mostly on political and social issues or just pure randomness, rather than personal issues.

Others believe that System of a Down's genre and song structure varies by song and album so one label can not be used to describe the band.

Guitarist Daron Malakian has said in a Guitar World interview that he is glad System of a Down has not slipped into the nu metal genre. During a 2005 concert, he announced, "They used to call us nü-metal, now they call us prog rock. I think they'll call us anything that's popular."

In a 2005 interview with the Houston Press, Malakian said, “Lately, we've been doing interviews, and people have been like, 'You guys are really leading the way for the new prog movement,' and I'm like, 'What?' Because a couple of years ago, these guys were comparing us to Limp Bizkit and Korn, and now that we're still here and those bands aren't, they're talking about prog. It's just kind of aggravating that people always have to have something to compare us to, or bunch us up with. I'm not saying we're the most original band in the world, but I don't really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal category or a pure rock category. There's a lot of stuff mixed up into one.”

Armenian Genocide issue

All four of the band members are of Armenian ancestry, and they have pursued recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. and Turkish governments through both music and political action. The lyrics of many of the band's songs deal with this issue. "P.L.U.C.K." (Politically Lying Unholy Cowardly Killers) is a song about the Genocide and was used in the movie "Ararat". In the album booklet, the band dedicates "this song to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Turkish Government in 1915." The Armenian Genocide is still highly sensitive in certain communities. The government of Turkey denies that the events were genocide. The song "Holy Mountains" was revealed to regard to the Armenian Genocide by Tankian on the Axis of Justice radio network. Another song thought to be about the Armenian Genocide is "X".