System Of A Down have released first new music in 15 years

And just like that System Of A Down are back! 15 years after “Hypnotize” System Of A Down have released two new songs: “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”.

Descended from Armenia, the band led by Serj Tankian has always shown an attachment to their roots, a country that has been involved in a conflict that has worsened in recent days.

“Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” were inspired by these recent events.

The band issued the following official statement:

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.
We’re proud to share these songs with you and hope you enjoy listening to them. Further, we encourage you to read on to learn more about their origins and once you do, hope you are inspired to speak out about the horrific injustices and human rights violations occurring there now. Most importantly and urgently, we humbly implore you to donate, in sums small or large to help those adversely affected with what are ever growing accounts of crimes against humanity.
In turn, you will receive downloads of these two new songs and the feeling that you’re truly making a difference. These funds will be used to provide crucial and desperately needed aid and basic supplies for those affected by these hideous acts.
On September 27, the combined forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey (along with Isis terrorists from Syria) attacked the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which we as Armenians call Artsakh. For over the past month, civilians young and old have been awakened day and night by the frightful sights and sounds of rocket attacks, falling bombs, missiles, drones and terrorist attacks. They’ve had to find sanctuary in makeshift shelters, trying to avoid the fallout of outlawed cluster bombs raining down on their streets and homes, hospitals and places of worship. Their attackers have set their forests and endangered wildlife ablaze using white phosphorus, another banned weapon.
And Why?
Because over 30 years ago in 1988, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (which at the time was an Autonomous Oblast within the USSR), were tired of being treated as second class citizens and decided to declare their rightful independence from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic whose borders engulfed their own. This ultimately led to a war of self determination by Armenians in Karabakh against Azerbaijan that ended in a cease fire in 1994, with Armenians retaining control of their ancestral homelands and maintaining their independence to the present day. Our people have lived there for millennia, and for most families there, it’s the only home they and their forefathers and mothers have ever known. They just want to live in peace as they have for centuries.
The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Erdogan in Turkey now want to not only claim these lands 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. This is not the time to turn a blind eye.
There is an immediate need for global citizens to urge their respective governments to not only condemn the actions of these crooked dictators, but to also insist world leaders act with urgency to bring peace to the region and rightfully recognize Artsakh as the independent nation it is.
We realize that for many of you, there are more convenient ways you like listening to music, so please consider the opportunity to download these songs as an act of charity above all else. Think of the list price for the downloads as a minimum donation, and if you have the ability and can be more generous with your donation, every single member of System Of A Down will be even more grateful for your benevolence. Band royalties from this initiative will be donated to Armenia Fund, a US based charity organization instrumental in providing those in need in Artsakh and Armenia with supplies needed for their basic survival.
The music and lyrics speak for themselves. We need you to speak for Artsakh.
Peace,
Daron, Shavo, John and Serj

Listen to both songs below:

The untold feud of Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down

The year was 1999 and nu metal was one of the most popular music genres on planet earth. Limp Bizkit had just released their multi-platinum record “Significant Other” and System Of a Down were making huge waves with their debut record released the year before. So, it’s not surprising that two of the most famous alternative metal bands at the time joined forces to embark on a massive tour around the United States of America. The Family Values tour was also a big thing at the time. Previously headlined in 1998 by Korn, it had featured several acts like Ice Cube, Ram stein and Limp Bizkit. Now, one year later, due to their massive success with songs like “Nookie” and “Break Stuff”, Limp Bizkit was the headliner of the 1999 edition. Besides Bizkit, other artists who played at Family Values Tour 1999 included Primus, Staind, Method Man, Redman, Ja Rule, Korn, The Crystal Method and Filter. It was around this time that Fred Durst, Limp Bizkit’s lead singer and front man, invited System Of a Down to join the tour.

The band accepted Fred’s invitation to go on tour with Limp Bizkit but things didn’t go as expected. System Of a Down was to meet up with Family Values on October 16 and play the remainder of the tour. However, the band was dropped from the tour and as is often the case, the reasons for what happened were up for debate. System Of a Down's management claimed that the band was dropped from the tour by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, whose band was ruling the Family Values roost. Velvet Hammer Management – which handled System - told MTV that Durst was courting another Velvet Hammer band, the Michigan rapcore outfit Tap Root, as part of his A&R duties at Flip/Interscope Records. Velvet Hammer claims that Durst was eager to sign the band, but Tap Root had hoped to play a few showcase gigs for other labels to test the market. The management company claims that Durst then took out his dissatisfaction with Tap Root and Velvet Hammer by dropping System from the Family Values tour.

The Firm, the management company that handled Limp Bizkit and Family Values, confirmed that System was off the bill, but offered no comment on the reason for the move. At the time Fred told the press his side of the story: "System Of a Down is no longer on the tour," Durst explained. "We love System Of a Down, but we can't stand their manager, he's the piece of sh-- that got them off the tour." The Family Values filled the slot vacated by System by extending Staind's run on the tour. Shortly after these unexpected series of events, both bands found common ground and apparently solved their issues. Durst invited System Of a Down to join Limp Bizkit, Method Man and Redman for a post-Family Values tour, the "Billionaire Pirates" tour, that launched November 4, 1999, in Tampa, Florida.

"We just want to bring good music to the kids," Durst wrote in a statement on the band's official Website at the time. "It really came as a shock to us. this drama," System drummer, John Dolmayan, told MTV News at the time. Dolmayan said that System and Limp were able to get beyond management level hang-ups when the two bands spoke directly to hammer out their problems. The two acts, who struck up a friendship while touring with Ozzfest '98, were able to set the management issues aside and line up the tour. "A lot of it is misunderstanding," Dolmayan said of the situation. "There's no reason to have enemies in this world, especially over something so trivial." System ended up heading to Europe in mid-December for a string of dates that concluded with the band opening for Black Sabbath on that group's two shows in Birmingham, England. The news came as System was seeing its 1998 self-titled debut album begin to gather steam on the chart. Their record had sold total of 180,000 copies.

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