SYSTEM OF A DOWN GO UNDERAPPRECIATED DURING THEIR “HIATUS”

Journalists have short memories. I posit that the reason Converge are showing up on so many decade-end lists is because they have an album out right now and are therefore fresh on the minds of the listmakers. Not to belittle that band’s influence; but having an album currently on the market definitely keeps a band’s name on the forefront of peoples’ minds and gives past albums of theirs an advantage for being included in any such list.

So. People seem to have forgotten that System of a Down made THREE incredibly influential albums this decade. Metal / not metal blah blah blah FUCK, I don’t wanna hear it. Toxicity ranked #14 on our own 21st Century “best of” list (F those puny “decade” lists!), and deservedly so. There are plenty of bands way more brutal than SoaD  but there’s no denying the band’s metallic influence and their reign over the scene in general; from 2001-2007 (roughly), especially towards the end of that period, there was no bigger metal band in the world than System of a Down. If System of a Down weren’t taking a break right now (people, they’re NOT broken up… get over it… they’ll be back) and had an album out on the scene that people were talking about I’m 100% certain Toxicity and Mezmerize/Hypnotize would see a lot more inclusion in all of these decade-end lists.

Metal Injection posted a photo remix video montage of SoaD’s last performance (until the next one, that is), which is what got me thinking about all of this. The video — titled “The Forest Project,” utilizes some cool visual editing techniques to make the show appear “live” through photos by Greg Watermann, and lays them underneath remixes and mash-ups by DJ LethalRush of SoaD songs from the band’s full discography. A really cool tribute to a really cool band. When these guys come back, it’s going to be a HUGE event, mark my words.

-VN