While System of a Down have contributed positively on this issue alone, they continually speak out against varied injustices as individuals and through their music. They have used their platform to inform young international audiences about the Armenian Genocide and their most recent Wake Up The Souls tour was conceived as an awareness-raising centenary run, ending with their first concert in Armenia. The ongoing denial of the genocide by the Turkish government highlighted to them how injustice can persist without the political will to stop it. These recording sessions featured contributions from the Armenian multi-instrumentalist Arto Tunçboyaciyan, who also collaborated with lead singer Serj Tankian on an intriguing 2003 experimental album SerArt (worth checking out ).Īll members of System of a Down grew up in Los Angeles’ Armenian-American community and each had family who survived the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923).
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Toxicity was their 2001 follow-up, with 2002’s Steal This Album! comprising material left over from the making of Toxicity. This could be largely attributable to the distinctive style and enduring quality of their first three albums. Conversely, System of a Down are still popular today despite only sporadically touring with no new albums for the last 10 years. ‘Nu metal’ was the fashionable movement of the era and it only seems to be remembered favourably through appeals to nostalgia. Of all metal from the turn of the century, their work seems to have held up the best. System of a Down differentiated themselves from the pack with their 1998 self-titled debut album. In marking the 15 th anniversary of System of a Down’s second album Toxicity, let us look at its impact musically and socially.
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But aside from speaking out for a worthy cause, how often do entertainers transform a listener’s entire understanding of politics? A valuable shift in perspective can come from unusual places. How much can music influence someone’s political beliefs? Whenever entertainers speak out for a cause or explore it in their work, there’s often something ham-fisted in how they express their view or understand the topic.