Miami Herald, FL
Aug 15 2005
System of a Down carves a distinct path
Bandmates draw on their roots and shared cultural history for their
singular prog-thrash sound.
BY EVELYN McDONNELL
Among the myriad norm-deviations that make System of a Down one of the
millennium’s strangest musical acts is the fact a holocaust indirectly
spawned the group.
>>From 1915-23, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Turkish government in a horrific campaign of massacres, deportation,
starvation and torture. For System, this history is something more
than prime heavy metal song fodder: It’s personal.
“Because of the genocide, Armenians scattered,” System bassist Shavo
Odadjian explains over the phone from his Los Angeles home. A number of
the displaced, including 4-year-old Odadjian and his future bandmates,
eventually made their way to America’s 20th-century promised land:
Hollywood. While many rock groups have their genesis in high school,
System of a Down is probably the first whose members all attended an
Armenian-American academy (albeit during different years).
Odadjian, guitarist/singer Daron Malakian, singer Serj Tankian and
drummer John Dolmayan all speak Armenian. And while their music
isn’t filled with Armenian instruments, their shared ethnic history
undoubtedly unites them — and shapes their distinct world view and
musical vision.
“We’ve all grown up not the same, but with very similar morals and
values,” says Odadjian. “We know how it is. We know not to talk about
anyone’s mother and sister.”
That cohesion has allowed System to carve a distinctive path through
the contemporary soundscape. They’re a thrash band that throws in
operatic trills. Progressive in their musical tastes and politics,
they’ve shot a video with Michael Moore. On Mesmerize, their recently
released fourth album, they mostly seem to be channeling the goofy,
artsy ghost of Frank Zappa, if he were in Metallica. (The Mesmerize
tour brings System to the Office Depot Center on Wednesday.)
The band members’ experiences as progeny of the Armenian diaspora
provided the fuel for Mesmerize and Hypnotize, its companion CD to be
released in late fall. Malakian’s family fled from Armenia to Iraq
before winding up in California. (Malakian was born in Hollywood,
Odadjian in Armenia, Tankian and Dolmayan in Lebanon.) His personal
and politicized fear, anger and sorrow drive Mesmerize, from the
opening Soldier Side, through the fierce anti-war B.Y.O.B. to the
melancholy Sad Statue, in which the Statue of Liberty — the beacon
of immigrants — weeps over her torn domicile.
“He sees it totally differently,” says Odadjian of Malakian’s view
of the war in Iraq. “It’s not because he’s from there, but because
it’s family. He doesn’t know when he’s going to get that call saying
something’s happened to somebody.”
DIFFERENT DYNAMIC
Malakian’s need to express his feelings on global politics changed
the very dynamic of the band. For the first time, on Mesmerize,
the guitarist wrote the majority of lyrics and sings leads, while
Tankian, the traditional frontman, plays such instruments as acoustic
guitars, piano and synthesizers (and cowrites and sings). It’s as if
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger traded roles in the Rolling Stones.
And unlike the famously rancorous Glitter Twins, System’s songwriting
partnership apparently made the transition smoothly.
“He’s always been a singer,” Odadjian says of Malakian. “I was not
surprised; we’re really good friends. I was surprised how Serj took
it so well and felt just like me: If you do something well, why would
I hold you back? We don’t let ego get in the way.”
Odadjian is also Zen about the way Malakian’s increased auteurship ate
into his presence on Mesmerize. The guitarist recorded many of the
bass parts himself, although Odadjian says the media has overplayed
this change.
“The way we did this album was a little different. The others we
wrote songs, played them for a while and then recorded. This time
around, Daron had a vision. He wanted the bass playing to be similar
to guitar. The way I play bass is different. I did my stuff, and he
went in with my permission, with no ego, and redid some of the tracks
the way he wanted. Some songs are me, some are not.”
Odadjian does admit that he did, for the first time, take bass lessons
while recording Mesmerize/Hypnotize.
The fact System’s members can so beatifically absorb one member’s
power move/creative burst is a testament to their strong roots. The
group formed in ’95, when Odadjian met Malakian and Tankian at a
shared rehearsal area. At first Odadjian was the group’s manager,
but eventually passed those duties on to professionals.
“That was the hardest thing to give up,” he says. “We’ve always been
forewarned that the industry will take you and make you into something
you’re not. Luckily that hasn’t hit us. We’ve totally made our own
path and not strayed.”
Dolmayan joined in ’96. System built a reputation by gigging before
releasing their self-titled debut, on Rick Rubin’s American label.
Rubin, the legendary rock and rap producer, produced the band’s four
records to date, including ’01’s Toxicity, which became an unlikely
multiplatinum global hit with such singles as Aerials and Chop Suey!
Of course System’s intensely dramatic, sometimes grandiose music
has also earned the group its share of detractors. For the haters,
the best thing about Mesmerize is the fact it’s mercifully short,
just 36 minutes. Odadjian says the group chose to release the two
CDs separately, rather than as a double album, because they thought
songs would get lost to modern listeners’ short attention spans.
“The youth of today has ADD, or at least they like to say they do.
The school we came from, albums were 11, 12, 13 songs, and every song
meant something. With 20 songs, people are going to skip songs they
can’t relate to.”
TEAM PLAYERS
Odadjian designs System’s stage shows, has directed several of their
videos, including the current Question, and is in charge of their
album art. “We look at the group as a team. Whoever’s good at what
they do, they do it. I have a visual thing.”
For the Mesmerize tour, Odadjian uses a lot of mirrors and stainless
steel. He says he was inspired by being in a small bar that seemed
twice as spacious because of a mirror on one wall. “I want to touch
every sense. It’s crazy, but not overdone.”
With his videos and the CD art, Odadjian says he tries to supplement
the songs, not duplicate or explicate them. Like the band’s odd name,
or such lyrics as “Gorgonzola gonorrhea,” some things are better
left unprobed.
“We don’t like to explain what we mean. It takes away the mystery.
It’s good to leave it to the person that’s seeing it or experiencing
it. I think our band is like an abstract painting.”