Each metal band is unique in how they balance their vocals, their instrumentation, and the intensity of their lyrics. In the 80s, we saw most bands performing thrash metal, which involved heavy instrumentation with heavy vocals, making it so that you couldn’t necessarily hear the lyrics over the instruments unless you really tried.

That changed a little bit in the 90s with the band System of a Down, but not entirely. They still have intense instrumentation, and vocalization, they just distribute the intensity differently. Some people have called them alt-metal, while others don’t care what they’re called – they just want to hear a little Chop Suey.

Early Career and Festival Successes

The band started out in the mid-90s, in Southern California. It consisted of Serj Tankian on vocals, Daron Malakian on guitar, John Dolmayan on drums, and Shavo Odadjian on bass. The five men started playing together at smaller venues, then managed to hit some mid-sized metal niche stages. They put out a demo with three songs on it and started gathering fans around the world.

System, Toxicity, Mezmerize, and Hypnotize

Before long, they were signing with American Records and opening for Slayer on tour. They also nabbed a spot at Ozzfest before releasing their debut album, System, in 1998. That first album went gold, which is rare for a debut. Their next venture was Toxicity. It beat their first album sales by the millions and went multi-platinum in 2001. Mesmerize and Hypnotize were their next offerings. Both charted on the album charts, but none of their albums have ever beat the success of Toxicity.

They haven’t put new music out since 2006, though they’ve played together since. If you’re reading this, it means they’ve either teased a new album (which they said they’d be willing to make) or they’re putting their personal projects aside long enough to go on tour.