Serj Tankian’s New Track “A.F. Day” Was Originally a System of a Down Song

With his name firmly planted in all of the metal blogs leading up to the recent release of his new memoir Down with the System, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian did the thing and actually put out some new music. And not only does it sort of check every box you’d expect from a Tankian track, he’s out here saying it was originally supposed to be a System of a Down song.

Released well ahead of his upcoming EP Foundations, which is due this fall, “A.F. Day” — or “Another Fucking Day” — is four minutes of the kind of anti-authoritarian commentary you’d expect from the 56-year-old Lebanese-born Armenian-American. Speaking of the track himself, Tankian said this one’s been stewing in the background of his career for quite a while.

“This is a song I wrote in the early days of SOAD that I never released. The majority of the instrumentation and vocals are recordings from that time. Dystopian in mood, it’s a reflection of the angst and anti-authoritarian attitude I had to conformity.”

Instead of featuring his dear friends Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan, the track features Tankian’s backing band called The F.C.C.

It’s a bummer to think we may never get another full-length System of a Down record, so this sort of piece meal solo track release is as good as it gets. Between him and Malakian, there’s plenty of SOAD-adjacent tunes to keep at least a sliver of interest going. And given how few and far between live shows for the band have become due to a number of extenuating circumstances, once again this is likely as good as it’s gonna get.