Artist

System of a Down

Formed in Glendale, California, 1994 5 studio albums 1 dive so far

Four Armenian-Americans out of the Los Angeles area, formed in 1994: Serj Tankian on vocals, Daron Malakian on guitar and vocals, Shavo Odadjian on bass, John Dolmayan on drums. That lineup has never changed, and the sound it makes is hard to file. A song can sprint at thrash speed, drop into a melody you could hum, and then turn folk inflected inside the same two minutes. The swerve is the signature. Nothing sits where you expect it.

The politics are not decoration either. The band writes openly about power and injustice, and Armenian heritage runs through the work, including years of public activism around recognition of the Armenian Genocide. They came up loud and uncompromising, and the surprising part is how far that traveled. Their second album, Toxicity, went to No. 1 and turned a band most radio would not touch into one of the defining metal acts of the early 2000s.

Then they mostly stopped. Five studio albums between 1998 and 2005, and nothing since: the self-titled debut, Toxicity, Steal This Album!, and the paired 2005 records Mezmerize and Hypnotize. A small catalog for a band this large. They left while everyone still wanted more.

Worth knowing

For a band this size, the catalog is tiny: five studio albums, all between 1998 and 2005, and nothing since. They went to No. 1, became one of the defining metal acts of their era, and then mostly stopped. They left while everyone still wanted more.