System of a Down TShirTS,

System of a Down PosTerS

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System of a Down (also referred to as System or abbreviated as SOAD) are a four-piece, Grammy-award winning band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California. All four System of a Down members are of Armenian descent, grandsons of Armenian Genocide survivors, and are widely known for their outspoken views found in many of their songs. System of a Down has achieved commercial success over five albums, with singles such as "Chop Suey!" and "B.Y.O.B.". System of a Down is a part of the Axis of Justice, a non-profit organization formed by System of a Down member Serj Tankian (along with Tom Morello) that is dedicated to bringing together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.

The stylistic variety and level of experimentation in System of a Down's music have made it difficult to describe. Despite this, their music is different from other experimental bands like Secret Chiefs 3 and Mr. Bungle, who change between a multitude of completely separate genres and styles in their songs. Though they have evolved their sound with each album, System of a Down has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style mixes elements and influences from a wide variety of genres such as alternative rock, punk rock, folk music, psychedelic music, classic metal, thrash metal, and progressive rock, creating a style unlike that of any other band. This has made them difficult to categorize, prompting the press to describe them with several different genre handles, among them alternative metal, hard rock, nu metal and progressive metal.

The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, ouds, sitars, twelve string guitars and a variety of keyboards and synthesizers. Drop C tuning was used exclusively on the first three albums, with later records mostly relying on drop Db tuning.

The band has cited Middle Eastern music as one of its influences and mentioned on several accounts that they appreciate The Beatles and Kiss. On their own style, Odadjian said "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down." and Dolyman stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."

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System of a Down Discography