System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian has appeared to indicate that despite the band releasing two new singles last night, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are recording a System of a Down new album right now. Alternative Nation transcribed his remarks to a fan who confronted him about being the sole writer of the new songs, with Serj Tankian not sharing a co-songwriting credit. System of a Down made a bold claim about Tool a couple of months ago.
The fan told Daron, “Bruh so they aren’t new System of a Down songs? They’re just Scars on Broadway featuring Serj?”
Malakian responded, “Most of System’s catalogue is written with the same process.” He added, “That sound you’re talking about is my writing style. System or Scars. Lots of Scars songs would be System songs if the band still made albums.
Atwa, Psycho, Hypnotize and 90% of the band’s songs were written and produced by me. Yes, even the songs I don’t sing. Just trying to educate you on the band’s writing process. Lonely Day, Radio Video, do those sound like Scars songs too? There was no Scars when I wrote those.”
System of a Down announced last night, “We as System Of A Down have just released new music for the first time in 15 years. The time to do this is now, as together, the four of us have something extremely important to say as a unified voice. These two songs, ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz,’ both speak of a dire and serious war being perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia.
The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Erdogan in Turkey not only want to claim Artsakh and Armenia as their own, but are committing genocidal acts with impunity on humanity and wildlife to achieve their mission. They are banking on the world being too distracted with COVID, elections and civil unrest to call out their atrocities. They have the bankroll, the resources and have recruited massive public relations firms to spin the truth and conceal their barbaric objective of genocide.
Between these two dictatorships, there’s a lot of disinformation and silencing of voices within their own countries. Freedom of speech is not something that is enjoyed by everyone, but it is enjoyed here, so part of that responsibility is getting the truth out there whenever possible. We’re here to protect our land, to protect our culture, and to protect our nation. This is not the time to turn a blind eye.
As SOAD, this has been an incredible occasion to put everything aside and speak out for our nation, as one, as four Armenian guys. ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’ are now available for purchase on our official Bandcamp page, where band proceeds go toward the @ArmeniaFund. The funds from Bandcamp + pre-orders of our new merch collection will be used to provide crucial, desperately needed aid and basic supplies for those affected by these hideous acts. Please consider the opportunity to download these songs as an act of charity irrespective of how you choose to listen to them today, tomorrow and for years to come.
The music and lyrics speak for themselves. We need you to speak for Artsakh.”