System of a Down to perform in Moscow

The newly reformed Armenian- American rock band from South California will play in Moscow’s Olimpiisky Sports Complex on June 21.

The comeback tour started in their hometown, Los Angeles, on May 24 and is to end when SOAD co-headline the closing of Brazil’s Rock in Rio with Guns N’ Roses on October 2.

The cult band is back from their indefinite hiatus announced in 2006, which took place not long after their 2005 releases of the chart-topping “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” albums and their winning of a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for their song “B.Y.O.B.”

“We are excited to announce that System will be playing some dates together in 2011 … We have no master plan of sorts – we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans,” said the message on official web site in October 2009.

With no new material for the band to promote, fans can well expect to hear a “best of” set.

It will be the band’s first visit to Moscow, even if their singer Serj Tankian played two gigs here with his solo projects in 2008 and 2010.

The band was formed in 1994 by four ethnic Armenians – Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums) – playing music that is difficult to put a label on. Alternative metal, rock, art rock, heavy metal, nu metal and progressive rock have all being used at some point to describe their sound. With the band’s roots in Armenia, their music often fuses traditional melodies with heavy guitar riffs.
The musicians themselves do not like to put themselves in boxes. Malakian has stated that “We don't belong to any one scene” and Tankian called it “pretty much pop”.

“We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before,” he said.