System of a Down broke their fifteen-year music silence on Friday, with the release of two politically fuelled singles ‘Protect the Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz.’
In a statement accompanying the release of the tracks, System of a Down detailed that the new release was a way of highlighting the “serious war being perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia.”
“The aggression and injustice being perpetrated against the Armenian people in Artsakh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey is a human rights violation and a war crime,” explained vocalist Serj Tankian in a statement. “All of us in System realize this is an existential battle for our people, so this is very personal for us. What we need right now is for the world to put politics aside and support Armenia by sanctioning Turkey and Azerbaijan and recognizing Artsakh.”
Proceeds raised from the songs — which are available to purchase via Bandcamp — will “provide crucial and desperately needed aid and basic supplies for those affected by these hideous acts.”
The release of new System of a Down material came much to the awe of fans. Over the past year, Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan have been engaged in heated, public, political discourse, which proved to be a hurdle when it came to the band hitting the studio to record new music.
Check out ‘Protect The Land’ by System Of A Down:
Bassist Shavo Odadjian recently sat down with FOX 11, where he detailed how the band put their political differences aside to create these new tracks.
According to Odadjian, Dolmayan addressed the members of SOAD in a group chat. “He wrote and said we need to put everything behind and do something,” he said. “We need to be a part of this. We need to help any way we can. This, this is bigger than us, bigger than our emotions, bigger than our feelings, bigger than our egos. Let’s go. And right away, Daron [Malakian, guitarist/vocalist] responded with here I have something that could save time.”
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Within two weeks of Dolmayan extending an olive branch, the band hit the studio, completed two tracks and filmed a music video.
“When we got in there [the studio], at first tension was a little high because we didn’t know how everyone was going to be, but about five minutes into it, we were talking, laughing’s talking about the song, how it’s going to be, how we’re going to help and what this is going to do for our people,” explained Odadjian.
“That’s the number one thing was what this is going to do to work and help out, how it’s going to help our people. Because I feel like it’s kind of like a Trojan horse, you know, it’s like we’re walking in and the world’s going to listen because it’s 15 years, we haven’t done anything.”
Check out ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’:
