System of a Down recently released two new songs to raise awareness about the ongoing attacks against Artsakh and Armenia, titled "Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz".
In an interview with Loudwire, System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian revealed the two new songs were originally written by guitarist Daron Malakian for his Scars on Broadway project. Daron ended up putting the two songs aside and asking his System of a Down bandmates if they wanted to do them as System of a Down, which of course they did.
"Daron wrote both songs. He had both songs. 'Protect the Land' was – he already had it in the can and he was going to release it on his Scars on Broadway record, on his next record. And he said 'hey, this would actually really work if you guys want to use this,' and we were like, we jumped on it because it worked perfectly in terms of what it meant to be one of those young Armenian soldiers trying to protect your family who's living a few kilometers behind you.
"Then 'Genocidal Humanoidz' was the flip of the coin, the opposite side of the coin where there are these terrorists and mercenaries that are hired to kill and behead which we were seeing every day during the war. Even after the war.
"We had to be specific because the cause was greater than the band, whereas generally as an artist you just release music and let people interpret things."
Tankian has historically been pretty against moving forward with new System of a Down music, but recently appears to have been warming up to the idea.
