System of a Down: one of the best metal bands....ever

In metal, I think a lot of preferences are incredibly subjective in that certain types of metal really seem to appeal only to certain types of metal fans. For example: I really don't like any band whose singer sounds the same with their screams no matter what the song is, particularly if their voice is really deep. This is why I never really got on board with Cannibal Corpse, and why I struggle to enjoy Mushuggah.

Like in any genre, there are a lot of opinions and all of them are correct because your personal preference can't be wrong when it comes to music. However, I have never found any metal fan (or even just in general) that didn't like System of a Down, and I think there are some really good reasons for that.

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Formed in 1994, a vast majority of the fans of these guys didn't exist until they experienced great commercial success with their 2nd album, Toxicity. This was released in 2001. One of the better songs on the album, Chop Suey! was actually taken off of heavy rotation because some of the lyrics coincidentally seemed insensitive due to the fact that the 9/11 attacks happened right around the time the album was released.

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_{I think it is a bit of a stretch to suggest this has anything to do with 9/11}

There are 3 stand out songs on this album: "Toxicity," "Aerials," and of course Chop Suey! The reason why these are great is because of something that is very unusual in a metal act: The musical score combines so well with the lyrics of a really powerful and unusal singer that can sing like he is employed on Broadway one second, and then switch to intense screaming the next. Most bands have a singer that can do one or the other, but it is extremely rare that they can do both so well.

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Most fans would argue (and I think correctly) that the band is unique mostly because of singer Serj Tankian and lead guitar player / back up vocalist / guy who writes most of the music, Daron Malakian. It is unfortunate that these two seem to have had a rather private falling out after the release of Mezmerize, Hypnotize in 2005 (I think, it was around then.)

While they have been civil and not-at-all-public about their dispute, it appears to have materialized just after the release (and tremendous success) of this album where Malakian did almost all of the writing and also wrote himself many times into the role of both lead guitar AND lead singer which left actual front man Serj Tankian with a role playing keyboards and going back-up vocals. I don't know (and neither does anyone else) if this is the real reason, but it appears to be.

They have still toured periodically after that dual-album, but have not released any new material in the meantime. There was some speculation in 2016 that a new album would be coming out but no one gave any sort of timeline. After 2 years of waiting it was revealed that the album was being called off, mostly due to creative and visionary differences between Malakian and Tankian and I would imagine that is because it is a power-struggle between these two over who is the "leader." This is something I find particularly ironic since some of their own songs detail the futility of "power struggles" in society.

This song remains one of my favorite metal songs of all time. It is difficult for me to choose a favorite song of theirs because there are so many great ones.

One thing that I really appreciate about SOAD is that they never seemed to buckle to industry pressures to release a ton of albums, even if they aren't ready. I think a lot of bands (Disturbed comes to mind) release album after album and then promote excessive tours despite the fact that they don't really have any good new material. SOAD seems to be one of the rare bands that keeps their own schedule and if they don't have something absolutely epic, they seem content to release nothing rather than put trash out there.

I wish they could sort out their differences, but to be honest, after a decade, it does seem unlikely. I think they will get relegated to a Guns and Roses type situation, where they go on tour together but do so pretending to actually like one another in the process. Pity.