Posts Tagged ‘Serj Tankian’
Allow me to further speculate about SOAD’s future
Ever since the new year was rung in, it seems like each new month has brought about a fresh System of a Down hiatus-ending rumor.
First, there was Shavo Odadjian’s tweets (here and here). Then there was Serj Tankian’s dismissal of the ensuing speculation (here). And then, recently, came new speculation that the band would be reuniting in the studio this fall to work on new material (here).
All caught up? Good. ‘Cause there’s more now.
Although I’ve yet to see any other publications or music blogs pick up on this, I’m going to go out on a limb and continue this wild goose chase. The juicy nugget came in an email sent out by Shavo to the official System of a Down email list run by Columbia Records. I received the email about a week ago. The purpose of the email is to announce an art project that Shavo’s been working on. That’s not really the interesting part (sorry Shavo). What is interesting is how he concludes the message, saying
See you all next year. . .
Could it be? After all, that timeline would coincide with the aforementioned rumors of a fall studio date. And the email is addressed to “Fellow System heads.”
Of course, maybe I’m just irresponsibly grasping at straws and Shavo is just talking about the music he will supposedly be releasing with his ersatz experimental hip-hop group Achozen. If that’s the case, well, fml.
-Sam
Here’s a look at what’s happening in the world of hard rock and metal:
*Kylesa, the sludgy stoner metal band that released one of 2009’s best albums in Static Tensions, is once again back in the studio for the time being demoing material intended for a new album. They are set to begin officially recording the new album at the end of May.
*Journalist Mick Wall is working on a Metallica book that will cover most of the group’s history. Wall was close with the band in its early days and has recently reconnected with them to conduct interviews. The book should come out in October.
*If any of you cares, here’s a tentative track list for Limp Bizkit’s new album Gold Cobra, and yes, it’s full of terrible song names like “Douchebag,” “GFY,” “Middle Finger,” and the awesomely awful duo of “Introbra” and “Outrobra.”
*The story of how Mastodon chose their name. Thank god they didn’t pick Savage Hamper.
*The Sword has finished work on its third album. If it’s done, why the hell won’t it be released until late this year?
*Serj Tankian’s new album, Imperfect Harmonies, is tentatively scheduled to come out in September. It will have 11 tracks, heavily featuring electronics. One song will be sung in Armenian.
-Sam
So, this was originally intended to be an April Fools’ Day gag.
I was going to write up a fake report about how System of a Down were finally ending their hiatus and getting back in the studio together to record a new album.
The only problem was that as I was perusing some metal blogs yesterday (March 31) I saw some legitimate rumor mill postings which seemed to be saying that very thing!
The rumors arise from some hazy logic, but I’ll lay it out anyway. Serj Tankian recently announced that his new solo album titled Imperfect Harmonies (changed from Music Without Borders) has been completely recorded and is now in the mixing stage. The plan is to release it in late summer. So the thinking goes that with Tankian now done with recording responsibilities and finishing up a touring cycle behind Elect The Dead Symphony, he is now free to rejoin the rest of his System bandmates who have been waiting for him. The rumor is that the band will enter the studio this fall to begin recording a new album.
There are several holes in this theory, however. First of all, it sounds a lot like wishful thinking more than it does a solid rumor. Second, I would imagine Serj would do some kind of touring behind his new solo record, and that would be hard to accomplish if he was in the studio with SOAD during the period that touring would likely take place.
That being said, I really really really hope that this rumor is true. If it is, it will be well worth the spoiled April Fools’ gag.
-Sam
I’ll say this about Serj Tankian – the man is fearless.
That’s the only way to describe his latest solo project, Elect The Dead Symphony, which saw him get up in front of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, a 70-piece ensemble, (in a dashing white suit no less!) and perform completely new orchestral arrangements of his heavy metal material. And make no mistake, this wasn’t a Metallica S&M style concert, where the electric guitars and yelling were accompanied by bombastic orchestral scores. No, this was an entirely new imagining of his songs as purely symphonic pieces.
Sound like a huge disaster? Well, Serj does have at least one thing going for him in this regard and that’s his voice. Simply put, Serj has a massive set of pipes, a huge range, and anyone familiar with his work in System of a Down knows that his singing has a uniquely operatic style.
Unfortunately, just because his voice may be up to this monumental task does not mean that his songs are.
So…about that System of a Down return I got all excited about a couple weeks ago?
Well, the band’s singer, Serj Tankian, is letting everyone know that they probably shouldn’t hold their breath.
To recap how all this hoopla started, bassist Shavo Odadjian posted the following tweet on January 12th: “Are u guys ready for System???”
He then followed that up with a supposed explanatory tweet which did nothing but make the situation even muddier. He wrote: “About my “are u guys ready for System?”. I’m not sayin we are back but, if so? U guys ready? SoRry for gettin u guys amped. I’m just seeing”
What does that even mean? That still leaves both options very much up in the air.
But now Tankian, in an interview with Billboard, has put out a pretty definitive statement. He says:
“We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet. We’re in touch. We talk. We call it an indefinite hiatus, and that’s how we still look at it. Nothing’s really changed.”
Booo.
Either Serj is telling the truth and nothing really has changed, or maybe the band was just not ready to officially announce the end of its hiatus and is trying to cover up the tracks. That’s probably just wishful thinking on my part though.
In Serj solo project news, he has a CD/DVD set coming out on March 9 called Elect the Dead Symphony, which is an orchestral reworking of the songs off his debut album, Elect the Dead. He recorded it with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand last March. Tankian’s also already working on his sophomore album, called Music Without Borders. He hopes to release that sometime this summer.
-Sam