HOLY SH*T! THERE’S NEW MUSIC FROM SYSTEM OF A DOWN!

Before Tool finally released Fear Inoculum, people had fun (or were frustrated) with the ever-expanding length of time between albums. When the record finally appeared, the recording hiatus ended after 13 years, three months, and 29 days.

Piffle. A mere coffee break compared to System of a Down.

The last System album appeared on November 22, 2005, more than a year before the arrival of the first iPhone. Unlike Tool’s situation, which involved a never-ending series of lawsuits and countersuits, SoaD had no such excuses. The lack of new material was simply due to the bandmembers not being able to get it together. There were promises, starts, stops, fights, and reconciliations.

Finally, 14 years, 11 months, and 16 days, after the release of the Hypnotize album, System has suddenly and unexpectedly returned with two brand new songs. And it took a war to get this done. Hey, it’s 2020. Anything can happen.

Fans know that everyone in the band is proud of their Armenia heritage and have always been deeply involved with their Armenia brethren in Asia. They’ve done a lot to bring attention to the Armenian genocide. And now, with war between Artsakh and Azerbaijan–a conflict that has enveloped many Armenians–SoaD decided to one again use their music to support their people.

Guitarist Daron Malakian says “I texted [the guys], ‘No matter how we feel about each other, no matter what issues linger from the past, we need to put them aside because this is bigger than System Of A Down and bigger than all of us… we need to do something to support our people.’”

Proceeds from these two songs (both of which can be purchased from Bandcamp) will go to the Armenia Fund, which is offering assistance to those afflicted by the war in Artsakh and Armenia. SoaD has enemies in Turkey (including in the government), so these tracks will most likely be very annoying to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The first track is “Protect the Land.”

The second is “Genocidal Humanoidz.”