System of a Down put their years of differences aside to release their first new tracks in over 15 years.
"Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz" are at all streaming services and available for download at the System of a Down Bandcamp page. Proceeds from the songs will go to the Armenia Fund. There's also a video for
"Protect the Land" on YouTube now directed by bassist Shavo Odadjian.
The band was inspired to do these new tracks by the conflict in their "cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia." They added, "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, hope you are inspired to speak out about the horrific injustices and human rights violations occurring there now."
Guitarist Daron Malkian wrote both tracks, with "Protect The Land" coming from the writing sessions for the last Scars on Broadway album in 2018 and "Genocidal Humanoidz" being among a group of songs System worked on a few years ago for a new album that they abandoned.
The sessions were inspired by drummer John Dolmayan, whose pro-Donald Trump stance has caused conflict with singer Serj Tankian. Dolmayan texted his bandmates on October 4th and wrote, "No matter how we feel about each other, no matter what issues linger from the past, we need to put them aside because this is bigger than System Of A Down and bigger than all of us.....we need to do something to support our people." The group convened in a Los Angeles studio a week later to record the songs.