Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian have partnered with Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian to release a new single Deconstruction.
Officially credited as being by The Gibson Band, the collaboration has been released to raise funds for charity with all proceeds directed towards Armenia Fund’s Artsakh Refugee Initiative.
The press release accompanying the release states the reason for the union between project and charity. "Tankian, Gueikian, and the Eurnekian family are all of Armenian descent, and the Armenia Fund provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Armenia and global Armenian communities through the development of vital infrastructure projects, educational, cultural, healthcare, and disaster relief programs, as well as direct assistance to families and individuals."
Commenting in a press-release Tankian says "“It’s a dream come true to have collaborated with my good friend, Cesar Gueikian, and Tony Iommi, who I have collaborated with before. I am happy that we are using our platform to donate the music, my art, and Gibson’s incredibly unique guitar for such a great charity. Music with the right intentions can inspire and also create positive change.”
Iommi chimed in with his own thoughts on the unique collaborative experience “It was great to hook up with Serj again and also to do a track with Cesar (I think that he’s trying to steal my job!!) ha-ha!! The Armenian people are really lovely people, and it’s a great pleasure, a great cause, and I’m very happy to be involved in it.”
Tankian and Iommi had previously worked together on the song Patterns off Iommi's solo record Iommi in 2000.
System Of A Down fans hoping for an Australian headline run might be waiting a lot longer if comments Tankian are anything to go by.
Speaking in a new interview with Revolver magazine, Tankian has declared that "after years of doing it and the travel that's involved, it's [touring] is one of those things where it's not the top priority on my list in life."
Tankian's comments on touring came as part of a broader discussion of the current state of his career and of his health, with the influential vocalist reflecting on his current circumstances and mindset "I have some other things I'm dealing with right now, which may or may not be affected by travel or touring. It wasn't just a health-related decision as far as cutting down on touring, but also a lifestyle decision."
"I'm not saying that I'll never tour again," he said. "But for the foreseeable future, it's not something that I'm really interested in doing."
Tankian isn't completely done with playing live though, revealing that one-off shows and festivals are more likely to be on the cards for him as a solo-artist and as a member of System Of A Down.
"When you're doing a tour, after a while it's like Groundhog Day. You try to be as creative and present to each show as you can, but after the second week, you've been there, done that already. But when it's one show, it's actually unique and special and fun."
The interview was conducted with other projects in mind for Tankian with his creativity finding new outlets in the form of a new memoir Down With The System set to be published in May.
The memoir follows the release of Invocations which showcases an experimental opera he composed and performed earlier this year.
Fans looking to see Tankian front System Of A Down live might have to make do with rare footage of System of A Down rehearsing in 1998, that has been uploaded to YouTube. In two videos uploaded by the channel The System of A Down Live Archive, you can see the band rehearsing for shows in Sacramento, California.
The footage was captured just months after the release of System of A Down.
System of A Down is considered by fans and critics to be a breakthrough release for the group and the nu-metal genre as a whole. Home to beloved singles Spiders and Sugar it set the foundations for the chart-busting feats of follow-up Toxicity, which celebrated its 20th birthday in 2021.
System Of A Down's second studio album, Toxicity was a genuinely game-changing record.
Featuring a fusion of metal and alternative sounds with folk, progressive rock, jazz, traditional Armenian and greek musical stylings, Toxicity blasted the American-Armenian alt/nu-metal band to unforeseeable mainstream prominence.
A commercial and critical success, the album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Charts and has sold over 12 million units worldwide. It remains one of the most unique and immediately identifiable metal albums of all time.
Toxicity's politicized lyrics focussing on mass incarceration, environmental terrorism, police brutality, scientific reductionism, drug addiction and questionable actions of the CIA, inspired a new generation of activists in the metal scene, educating a generation of metalheads while simultaneously creating controversy that helped keep the album at the forefront of the alternative music press.
Much of the Toxicity's initial success came courtesy of the breakthrough first single Chop Suey, so to celebrate and illustrate the impact of this transformative metal masterpiece, we've compiled these six sick covers of Chop Suey that showcase the wide-ranging impact and influence of this landmark System Of A Down release.
Buy 20th Anniversary Toxicity Merchandise Now In The Maniacs Store.
