Back in November I wrote about, Protect The Land & Genocidal Humanoidz, System Of A Down’s first new music in fifteen years. The focus was the excellent video for Protect The Land, with its heroic depictions of those who fight against genocide & the lengthy statement the band released alongside it.
Yesterday, the band released a new video for the second of those two songs, Genocidal Humanoidz, a powerful animation depicting a child’s fight for survival in a wartorn cityscape interspersed with footage of the band furiously performing the song. Classic System Of A Down.
Here’s the video for Protect The Land too, in case you missed it.
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A bit of a surprise for me. I was getting my music ready for my cycle ride to work a couple of days ago; I wanted to listen to my favourite handful of System Of A Down tunes: Suite-Pea, Chop Suey, Toxicity, Know & Sugar; I’d be cycling into my work’s carpark as Sugar was ending so it’s a great cycle of songs for the ride. When I clicked onto their Spotify page I saw that they had release two new songs. It’s taken me a few days to get around to it but I finally listened to them today.
This is the exact kind of politically-charged agitprop you’d a) expect & b) the world could do with right now. This feels particularly weird in the context of public clashes between frontman Serj Tankian & drummer John Dolmayan over the latter’s support for populist, far-right American president Donald Trump. Nevertheless, these songs – the bands first in fifteen years – are a breath of fresh air in 2020. An enraged call for justice against war crimes in Armenia and indeed all over the developing world & the global south. A polemical roar against western Imperialism.
The songs are about, & in response to, complicated situations in & around the band’s ancestral homeland Armenia. I personally don’t feel knowledgable enough about these events to discuss them in detail but the band released the following statement on their Bandcamp page:
We as System Of A Down have just released new music for the first time in 15 years. The time to do this is now, as together, the four of us have something extremely important to say as a unified voice. These two songs, “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” both speak of dire and serious acts of aggression perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia.
We’re proud to share these songs with you and hope you enjoy listening to them. Further, we encourage you to read on to learn more about their origins and once you do, we hope you are inspired to speak out about the horrific injustices and human rights violations occurring there now. Most importantly and urgently, we humbly implore you to donate, in sums small or large to help those adversely affected with what are ever growing accounts of crimes against humanity.
In turn, you will receive downloads of these two new songs and the feeling that you’re truly making a difference. These funds will be used to provide crucial and desperately needed aid and basic supplies for those affected by these hideous acts.
On September 27, the combined forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey (along with Isis terrorists from Syria) attacked the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which we as Armenians call Artsakh. For the following 44 days, civilians young and old were awakened day and night by the frightful sights and sounds of rocket attacks, falling bombs, missiles, drones and terrorist attacks. They had to find sanctuary in makeshift shelters, trying to avoid the fallout of outlawed cluster bombs raining down on their streets and homes, hospitals and places of worship. Their attackers set their forests and endangered wildlife ablaze using white phosphorus, another banned weapon.
And Why?
Because over 30 years ago in 1988, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh (which at the time was an Autonomous Oblast within the USSR), were tired of being treated as second class citizens and decided to declare their rightful independence from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic whose borders engulfed their own. This ultimately led to a war of self-determination by Armenians in Karabakh against Azerbaijan that ended in a cease fire in 1994, with Armenians retaining control of their ancestral homelands and maintaining their independence to the present day. Our people have lived there for millennia, and for most families there, it’s the only home they and their forefathers and mothers have ever known. They just want to live in peace on their ancestral homeland as they have for centuries.
The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Erdogan in Turkey have now claimed most of these lands as their own, and committed genocidal acts with impunity on humanity and wildlife to achieve their mission. They banked on the world being too distracted with COVID, elections and civil unrest to call out their atrocities, and their tactic worked. They have the bankroll, the resources and have recruited massive public relations firms to spin the truth and conceal their barbaric objectives. This is not the time to turn a blind eye.
There is an immediate need for global citizens to urge their respective governments to not only condemn the actions of these crooked dictators, but to also insist world leaders act with urgency to impose sanctions punishing them for their war crimes.
We realize that for many of you, there are more convenient ways you like listening to music, so please consider the opportunity to download these songs as an act of charity above all else. Think of the list price for the downloads as a minimum donation, and if you have the ability and can be more generous with your donation, every single member of System Of A Down will be even more grateful for your benevolence. Band royalties from this initiative will be donated to Armenia Fund, a US based charity organization instrumental in providing those in need in Artsakh and Armenia with supplies needed for their basic survival.
The music and lyrics speak for themselves. We need you to speak for Artsakh.
Peace,
Daron, Shavo, John and Serj
Protect The Land/Genocidal Humanoidz is available now on all good streaming services & digital distributors but to help the cause, why not purchase these songs from the band’s Bandcamp page.
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Day 8. Another one from The Matrix, Dragula by Rob Zombie was another Alternative night classic at the kind of nightclubs I used to frequent in my teenage years. The versionused in The Matrix was the Rod Herman remix but for the video I have opted for the original version, not least because it has a really good video. I also failed to find the remix on Spotify, so the original version will be on the SPotify playlist too. I’ll include the remix YouTube link here.
The remix adds layers of electronic production to the track which nicely brings the song in line with the late ’90’s cyberpunk visions of The Matrix. I’m not sure but I also think our local Alternative Rock DJ’s played this version too, presumably The Matrix OST was a useful CD for any Alt/Rock DJ to own.
Superstition, fear and jealousy
Dead I am the one, exterminating son Slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze Dead I am the sky, watching angels cry While they slowly turn, conquering the worm
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dead I am the pool, spreading from the fool Weak and what you need, nowhere as you bleed Dead I am the rat, feast upon the cat Tender is the fur, dying as you purr
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Do it baby, do it baby Do it baby, do it baby Burn like an animal
Dead I am the life, dig into the skin Knuckle crack the bone, twenty one to win Dead I am the dog, hound of hell you cry Devil on your back, I can never die
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Do it baby, do it baby Do it baby, do it baby Burn like an animal
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Dig through the ditches And burn through the witches I slam in the back of my Dragula!
Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Movie Soundtracks) Spotify playlist.
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Day 7. I suppose I’d never really thought of my generation (or age/year group) as having its own movie but 1after giving it some thought,The Matrix is definitely it. Released the year I turned 17, I remember going to see it with a group of friends, all baggy jeans, Korn hoodies & wallet chains. The soundtrack seemed to be tailor made to us too. My Own Summer (Shove It) can only be described as an anthem in the kind of circles I used to move in. The sinister, slow & incredibly heavy riffing of the verses & the explosive screaming of the chorus soundtracked many an alternative night in a local nightclub, headbanging to it at midnight, drunk on pound-a-pint lager.
Interestingly, Deftones are one of the very small number of Nu Metal bands which I still like & regularly listen to. I drifted away from it as a genre as I discovered Punk & rediscovered Indie Rock. They were radically different from the majority of Nu Metal bands. They had weird melodic sensibilities & inspirations which you didn’t really see in other Nu Metal bands. Things like The Smiths & Radiohead. You can hear it in the woozy, narcotic vocal melodies of the verses in My Own Summer (Shove It).
Favourite comment on the YouTube video:
Fun fact: That shark was a goldfish before this song started playing.
Hey you, big star Tell me when it’s over
Hey you, big mood, guide me to shelter ‘Cause I’m through When the two hits the six and it’s summer
Cloud, come (shove it, shove it, shove it) Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it) The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it) Aside (shove it aside)
I think god is moving its tongue There’s no crowd in the streets And no sun in my own summer
The shade is a tool, a device, a savior See, I try and look up to the sky But my eyes burn
Cloud, come (shove it, shove it, shove it) Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it) The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it) Aside (shove it aside)
Cloud, come (shove it, shove it, shove it) Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it) The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it) Aside (shove it aside)
I think god is moving its tongue There are no crowds in the streets and no sun in my own summer
Come (shove it, shove it, shove it) Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it) The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it) Aside (shove it aside)
Looking for some great music? Check the Song of the Day (Spotify) playlist.
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Day 26.I’m rolling with the production angle here. Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor was also heavily involved with producing most early Marilyn Manson albums, up until Antichrist Superstar.
Tourniquet is a kind of Grunge/Goth combination, with Art Rock & Industrial colouring. Far from the pummelling Metal onslaught the hype & hysteria would have led you to believe. From the vantage point of 2020, it’s easy to forget how much reactionary christian & conservative groups were frightened by this. It’s absurd. Almost like they had nothing else to worry about.
I caught you watching me under the light Can I be your line? They say it’s easy to leave you behind I don’t wanna try Come and take that test Hold courage to your chest Don’t wanna wait for you Don’t wanna have to lose All that I compromised to feel another high I’ve got to keep it down tonight And oh, oh, oh I was a king under your control And oh, oh, oh I wanna feel like you’ve let me go So let me go Don’t you remember how I used to like Being on the line? I dreamed you dreamed of me calling out my name Is it worth the price? Come and take that test Hold courage to your chest Don’t wanna wait for you Don’t wanna have to lose All that I compromised to feel another high I’ve got to keep it down tonight And oh, oh, oh I was a king under your control And oh, oh, oh I wanna feel like you’ve let me go So let me go Yeah Let me go Just let me go Let me go
Keep up to date with the Song of the Day (The Chain) Spotify playlist.
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Day 25. A bit of an obvious one today, but a good one. From a Nine Inch Nails mix of a Bowie song to one of my favourite Nine Inch Nails songs.
We’re In This Together was the lead single from the bands excellent 1999 album The Fragile. Precision production, industrial percussion & some of the nastiest Noise Rock guitar ever committed to tape ProTools combine to create a huge single. Aa creeping sense of dread grows throughout the songs verses before exploding into the fury of the loud, angry, & somehow optimistic, chorus.
I’ve become impossible holding on to when When everything seemed to matter more The two of us All used and beaten up Watching fate as it flow down the path we Have chose
You and me We’re in this together now None of them can stop us now We will make it through somehow You and me If the world should break in two Until the very end of me Until the very end of you
Awake to the sound as they peel apart the skin They pick and they pull Trying to get their fingers in Well they’ve got to kill what we’ve found Well they’ve got to hate what we fear Well they’ve got to make it go away Well they’ve got to make it disappear
The farther I fall I’m beside you As lost as I get I will find you The deeper the wound I’m inside you For ever and ever I’m a part of
You and me We’re in this together now None of them can stop us now We will make it through somehow You and me If the world should break in two Until the very end of me Until the very end of you All that we were is gone we have to hold on All that we were is gone we have to hold on When all our hope is gone we have to hold on All that we were is gone but we can hold on
You and me We’re in this together now None of them can stop us now We will make it through somehow You and me Even after everything You’re the queen and I’m the king Nothing else means anything
Keep up to date with the Song of the Day (The Chain) Spotify playlist.
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Day 9. Rage Against The Machine, particularly guitarist Tom Morello have been in the news quite a bit this week. As a revolutionary socialist band who have been burning Stars & Stripes & wearing Hammer & Sickles since the early ’90’s it is quite surprising that RATM have any right-wing fans at all. Somehow they do. And these right-wing fans have been getting very upset about Tom Morello expressing his opinions about the current revolutionary actions of the Black Lives Matter movement. This is one of them.
Needless to say, Morello’s response was both witty & humorous. A true Twitter professional.
Check out this equally brutal Twitter putdown from a couple of years ago. Just glorious. Textbook.
Down Rodeo is a scathing blast of metallic funk. It’s lyrics deal with systematic racism, the shameful legacy of slavery & forward looking revolutionary ideas. A personal highlight for me.
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bangin’ this bolo tight on this solo flight can’t fight alone Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone Tha pen devils set that stage for tha war at home Locked wit out a wage ya standin’ in tha drop zone The clockers born starin’ at an empty plate Momma’s torn hands cover her sunken face We hungry but them belly full The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull In tha ruins there’s a network for tha toxic rock School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor The remains left chained to the powder war
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yes I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic They ain’t gonna send us campin’ like they did my man Fred Hampton Still we lampin’ still clockin’ dirt for our sweat A ballots dead so a bullet’s what I get A thousand years they had tha tools We should be takin’ ’em Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin’ em Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse Make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
The rungs torn from the ladder can’t reach the tumour One god, one market, one truth, one consumer
Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we’ll never have Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don’t have
While looking for the YouTube video for Down Rodeo, I came across this excellent video of a man reacting to it for the first time. His enthusiasm is so infectious that I just had to share this with you as well. I was especially interested that the line he picked out as a stand out was one of the most revolutionary, “Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin’ em.” We don’t want the shitty scraps from the capitalists tables, we want the means of production.
Looking for some great music to listen to? Why not check out the Song of the Day (BLM) Spotify playlist.
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Scruffy Theory 