Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

THE TRUTH ABOUT: 3 - The Untold Story

System of a Down’s Serj Tankian doesn’t ‘respect Imagine Dragons as human beings’ after controversial gig

Pop-rockers Imagine Dragons performed in Baku last year dispite the pleas of fellow musicians

The Independent UK

“I have zero respect for those guys. They're not good human beings.” System Of A Down's Serj Tankian slams Imagine Dragons for ignoring his concerns about 'art-washing' a genocidal dictatorship

“If you are that blind to justice that you will go play a show in a country that's starving another country, illegally... I don't know what to say about you as a human being”

Metal Hammer

“He’d call me at four in the morning and leave a 15-minute guitar solo on my voicemail”: Serj Tankian on his collaborations with the enigmatic Buckethead – and the time they played a high school battle of the bands together

From taxidermy-inspired music videos to playing a high school battle of the bands as fully grown adults, the System of a Down frontman recalls his artistic camaraderie with Buckethead

Guitar World

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

"I could see that schism developing." Serj Tankian says he knew System Of A Down had problems as early as 1999

The System Of A Down vocalist also reveals the artists that inspired his early style before he found his own voice

Metal Hammer

“Dystopian in mood, it’s a reflection of the angst and anti-authoritarian attitude I had to conformity.” Listen to Serj Tankian's 'new' single A.F. Day, originally written for System Of A Down

Listen to the first song from System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian's solo EP Foundations

Metal Hammer

“I don’t want to hold you guys back. This is your dream.” Serj Tankian recalls the moment he invited System Of A Down to find a new singer, and even offered to train his replacement

Serj Tankian reveals that System Of A Down considered replacing him in 2018

Metal Hammer

"They came to my house, we jammed together in my studio, they even played with my dog." How System Of A Down's Serj Tankian almost signed a young Muse to his own label - but was "screwed over"

In an exclusive extract from his new book Down With The System Serj Tankian reveals the strange story of how he almost signed British rock giants Muse

Metal Hammer

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

System Of A Down's Serj Tankian slams “absolute maniac” Donald Trump: “He’s only interested in himself, his own ego, his own everything. He doesn’t even care about other Republicans”

System Of A Down’s frontman weighs in on the state of US politics in 2024, shares a snippet of previously unreleased SOAD song A.F. Day

Metal Hammer

"It's called Foundations because it's the founding of my musical life." Serj Tankian's forthcoming Foundations EP will include an early unreleased System Of A Down song

Metal Hammer

The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

Ozzy Osbourne, Serj Tankian and Corey Taylor all feature on some of the best new metal songs this week - but not in the way you might think. Plus - vote for your favourite!

Metal Hammer

“It’s a beautiful song!” Hear System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian sing lead vocals on a new track by The Walking Dead/Godzilla composer Bear McCreary

The song, called Incinerator, is a single from McCreary’s upcoming symphonic metal album The Singularity, which also features Corey Taylor, Slash and more

Metal Hammer

“The fact that he managed to mix the political with the comical and the absurd, without comprising his output, is a big influence”: Frank Zappa is Serj Tankian’s prog hero

System Of A Down vocalist hails the Mothers Of Invention leader for more than just his ambitious approach to making music

Louder

“I am honoured to be joined by dozens of my favourite artists”: Slash, Corey Taylor, Serj Tankian and more will appear on a new album by composer extraordinaire Bear McCreary

Members of Anthrax, Meshuggah and Soundgarden will also join the Walking Dead/Godzilla/God Of War composer’s all-star lineup

Metal Hammer

“We still haven’t come eye-to-eye on how things should be done”: The story of the new System Of A Down album that will (probably) never happen

Since reuniting in 2011, System Of A Down have headlined festivals, packed arenas and released just two songs. What’s the situation with their long-anticipated sixth album? Not promising…

Metal Hammer

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Metal Hammer

Here's what System Of A Down’s Chop Suey! would sound like if Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian swapped voices

What would it be like if System Of A Down’s two singers traded places for the band’s signature song? One YouTuber has discovered the answer.

Metal Hammer

The 50 best metal songs of 2023 (as voted by Metal Hammer readers)

From Sleep Token and Ghost, Babymetal to Metallica: 2023 has been a year of heavy metal bangers - these were the 50 best of them all, according to you

Guitar World

Three “God-like guitarists” join forces and stadium-conquering rockers channel their inner spy: This week's essential guitar tracks

Must-listen-to tunes from Guns N' Roses, Architects, IDLES, The Libertines, Devon Ross, Ryujin and many more

Guitar World

“A revolving collective of Gibson artists”: the guitar brand becomes a guitar band, as the Gibson Band debuts its first single, featuring CEO Cesar Gueikian, Serj Tankian, and a solo from Tony Iommi

The original new song, Deconstruction, is being released as part a new fundraising initiative, accompanied by Tankian’s original artwork and what else? A Les Paul with a custom finish

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Metal Hammer

System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi have teamed up for a brand new single, Deconstruction

System Of A Down’s singer and Black Sabbath’s guitarist collaborated with Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian to release a brand new song for charity

Metal Hammer

“We have got to get that monkey out of the office before he kills us all.” How metal (mostly) united against George W. Bush in the 2000s

Years before Trump dragged US politics into the gutter, George W. Bush's Presidency caused outrage amongst many prominent metal bands

Metal Hammer

"Maybe they just don’t care": System Of A Down's Serj Tankian calls out Imagine Dragons for ignoring his pleas to cancel a scheduled show in Azerbaijan, which he claims will help "whitewash" brutal human rights abuses in the country

System of a Down's Serj Tankian attacks pop-rock superstars Imagine Dragons over what he perceives as their "disregard" for a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Azerbaijan

Metal Hammer

“We inadvertently started an LA riot, and we didn’t even do anything." System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian on fleeing civil war in Lebanon, causing mayhem in Hollywood and becoming an unlikely metal icon

From hearing bombs drop around his childhood home to fronting one of metal's biggest ever bands, this is Serj Tankians unbelievable life story

Louder

10 of the wildest things you can see on Thunderflix, the world's only streaming service dedicated to heavy metal

From mind-blowing anecdotes to incredible live footage, Thunderflix is an essential streaming addition for any self-respecting metal fan

Metal Hammer

"We never felt like we were in anybody's scene". How System Of A Down invaded nu metal, baited Slayer fans and created a classic debut album in 1998

System Of A Down were terrified by Kiss as kids, but by the time they released their self-titled debut they were trolling Slayer fans and invading nu metal

Metal Hammer

“The drama's gonna be there, always": Serj Tankian on the turmoil that makes System Of A Down tick

Serj Tankian once opened up on the conflict at the heart of metal giants System Of A Down

1 2 3 4

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Amnesty International

the International Court of Justice

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.