System Of A Down Break 15 Year (!!!) Hiatus To Drop 2 Politically Charged Bangers

Contributor: Steff Tan

In absolutely wild scenes, System of a Down has released new music for the first time in 15 (long) years. But this isn’t your average comeback – no, SOAD has a message and they want you to hear it loud and clear.

Daron MalakianSerj TankianJohn Dolmayan, and Shavo Odadjian, who are all of Armenian descent, have recorded two new songs – Protect The Land and Genocidal Humanoidz. 

“The time to do this is now, as together, the four of us have something extremely important to say as a unified voice,” SOAD said along with the release of the songs.

The songs have been released, via BandCamp, to bring attention to the war in their ancestor’s homeland of Armenia. All royalties made by the band will be donated to the Armenia Fund, a US based charity organisation.

In the statement made by System of a Down, they explained the deeper meaning behind these songs and the human rights atrocities that have been inflicted upon Armenians in Artsakh (a landlocked region in the South Caucasus).

For context: In 1988, Armenians in Artsakh (also known as Karabakh) declared a war of self-determination against Azerbaijan to recover their ancestral lands in the landlocked region. However, 30-years after Armenians obtained those lands on September 27 this year Artsakh was attacked by the combined forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

SOAD explained that “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,” SOAD added.

The statement concludes by encouraging people to donate by purchasing downloads of the two tracks via Bandcamp.

“The music and lyrics speak for themselves. We need you to speak for Artsakh.”

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