The skull and crossbones is a common symbol for toxicity.

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell (cytotoxicity) or an organ such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). By extension, the word may be metaphorically used to describe toxic effects on larger and more complex groups, such as the family unit or society at large.

A central concept of toxicology is that effects are dose-dependent; even water can lead to water intoxication when taken in too many doses, whereas for even a very toxic substance such as snake venom there is a dose below which there is no detectable toxic effect. Toxicity is species-specific, lending cross-species analysis problematic. Newer paradigms and metrics are evolving to bypass animal testing, while maintaining the concept of toxicity endpoints. ^[1]

Types of toxicity[link]

There are generally three types of toxic entities; chemical, biological, and physical:

• Chemical toxicants include inorganic substances such as lead, mercury, asbestos, hydrofluoric acid, and chlorine gas, organic compounds such as methyl alcohol, most medications, and poisons from living things.
• Biological toxicants include bacteria and viruses that can induce disease in living organisms. Biological toxicity can be difficult to measure because the "threshold dose" may be a single organism. Theoretically one virus, bacterium or worm can reproduce to cause a serious infection. However, in a host with an intact immune system the inherent toxicity of the organism is balanced by the host's ability to fight back; the effective toxicity is then a combination of both parts of the relationship. A similar situation is also present with other types of toxic agents.
• Physical toxicants are substances that, due to their physical nature, interfere with biological processes. Examples include coal dust and asbestos fibers, both of which can ultimately be fatal if inhaled.

Measuring toxicity[link]

Toxicity can be measured by its effects on the target (organism, organ, tissue or cell). Because, individuals typically have different levels of response to the same dose of a toxin, a population-level measure of toxicity is often used which relates the probabilities of an outcome for a given individual in a population. One such measure is the LD₅₀. When such data does not exist, estimates are made by comparison to known similar toxic things, or to similar exposures in similar organisms. Then, "safety factors" are added to account for uncertainties in data and evaluation processes. For example, if a dose of toxin is safe for a laboratory rat, one might assume that one tenth that dose would be safe for a human, allowing a safety factor of 10 to allow for interspecies differences between two mammals; if the data are from fish, one might use a factor of 100 to account for the greater difference between two chordate classes (fish and mammals). Similarly, an extra protection factor may be used for individuals believed to be more susceptible to toxic effects such as in pregnancy or with certain diseases. Or, a newly synthesized and previously unstudied chemical that is believed to be very similar in effect to another compound could be assigned an additional protection factor of 10 to account for possible differences in effects that are probably much smaller. Obviously, this approach is very approximate; but such protection factors are deliberately very conservative, and the method has been found to be useful in a deep variety of applications.

Assessing all aspects of the toxicity of cancer-causing agents involves additional issues, since it is not certain if there is a minimal effective dose for carcinogens, or whether the risk is just too small to see. In addition, it is possible that a single cell transformed into a cancer cell is all it takes to develop the full effect (the "one hit" theory).

It is more difficult to determine the toxicity of chemical mixtures than a pure chemical, because each component displays its own toxicity, and components may interact to produce enhanced or diminished effects. Common mixtures include gasoline, cigarette smoke, and industrial waste. Even more complex are situations with more than one type of toxic entity, such as the discharge from a malfunctioning sewage treatment plant, with both chemical and biological agents.

Global classifications of toxicity[link]

For substances to be regulated and handled appropriately they must be properly classified and labelled. Classification is determined by approved testing measures or calculations and have determined cut off levels set by governments and scientists. While currently many countries have different regulations regarding the types of tests, amounts of tests and cut off levels, the implementation of Global Harmonization will begin unifying these countries as early as 2008.^[2][3]

Global Classification looks at three areas: Physical Hazards (explosions and pyrotechnics),^[4] Health Hazards^[5] and Environmental Hazards.^[6]

Health hazards[link]

The types of toxicities where substances may cause lethality to the entire body, lethality to specific organs, major/minor damage, or cause cancer. These are globally accepted definitions of what toxicity is.^[5] Anything falling outside of the definition cannot be classified as that type of toxicant.

Acute toxicity[link]

Acute toxicity looks at lethal effects following oral, dermal or inhalation exposure. It is split into five categories of severity where Category 1 requires the least amount of exposure to be lethal and Category 5 requires the most exposure to be lethal. The table below shows the upper limits for each category.

Note: The undefined values are expected to be roughly equivalent to the category 5 values for oral and dermal administration.^{[citation needed]}

Other methods of exposure and severity[link]

Skin corrosion and irritation are determined though a skin patch test analysis. This examines the severity of the damage done; when it is incurred and how long it remains; whether it is reversible and how many test subjects were affected.

Skin corrosion from a substance must penetrate through the epidermis into the dermis within four hours of application and must not reverse the damage within 14 days. Skin irritation shows damage less severe than corrosion if: the damage occurs within 72 hours of application; or for three consecutive days after application within a 14 day period; or causes inflammation which lasts for 14 days in two test subjects. Mild skin irritation minor damage (less severe than irritation) within 72 hours of application or for three consecutive days after application.

Serious eye damage involves tissue damage or degradation of vision which does not fully reverse in 21 days. Eye irritation involves changes to the eye which do fully reverse within 21 days.

Other categories of toxicity[link]

• Respiratory sensitizers cause breathing hypersensitivity when the substance is inhaled.
• A substance which is a skin sensitizer causes an allergic response from a dermal application.
• Carcinogens induce cancer, or increase the likelihood of cancer occurring.
• Reproductively toxic substances cause adverse effects in either sexual function or fertility to either a parent or the offspring.
• Specific-target organ toxins damage only specific organs.
• Aspiration hazards are solids or liquids which can cause damage through inhalation.

Environmental hazards[link]

This section requires expansion.

Environmental hazards tend to focus on degradability, bioaccumulation and aquatic toxicity.^[6]

Mapping environmental hazards[link]

There are many environmental health mapping tools. TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services^[7] of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund programs. TOXMAP is a resource funded by the US Federal Government. TOXMAP's chemical and environmental health information is taken from NLM's Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET)^[8] and PubMed, and from other authoritative sources.

Aquatic toxicity[link]

Aquatic toxicity testing submerges key indicator species of fish or crustacea to certain concentrations of a substance in their environment to determine the lethality level. Fish are exposed for 96 hours while crustacea are exposed for 48 hours. While GHS does not define toxicity past 100 mg/l, the EPA currently lists aquatic toxicity as “practically non-toxic” in concentrations greater than 100 ppm.^[9]

Note: A category 4 is established for chronic exposure, but simply contains any toxic substance which is mostly insoluble, or has no data for acute toxicity.

Factors influencing toxicity[link]

Toxicity of a substance can be affected by many different factors, such as the pathway of administration (whether the toxin is applied to the skin, ingested, inhaled, injected), the time of exposure (a brief encounter or long term), the number of exposures (a single dose or multiple doses over time), the physical form of the toxin (solid, liquid, gas), the genetic makeup of an individual, an individual's overall health, and many others. Several of the terms used to describe these factors have been included here.

acute exposure

a single exposure to a toxic substance which may result in severe biological harm or death; acute exposures are usually characterized as lasting no longer than a day.

chronic exposure

continuous exposure to a toxin over an extended period of time, often measured in months or years; it can cause irreversible side effects.

Etymology[link]

Look up toxicity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

"Toxic" and similar words came from Greek τοξον = "bow (weapon)" via "poisoned arrow", which came to be used for "poison" in scientific language, as the usual Classical Greek word ('ιον) for "poison" would transcribe as "io-", which is not distinctive enough. In some biological names, "toxo-" still means "bow", as in Toxodon = "bow-toothed" from the shape.

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• Chemical and Other Safety Information – Oxford University
• Whole Effluent, Aquatic Toxicity Testing FAQ
• TOXMAP Environmental Health e-Maps from the United States National Library of Medicine
• Toxseek: meta-search engine in toxicology and environmental health

System of a Down
System of a Down at Download Festival On June 12, 2005.
Background information
Also known as	Soil (1992–1994) SOAD System
Origin	Los Angeles, US
Genres	Alternative metal, progressive rock, hard rock, experimental
Years active	1994–2006, 2011–present
Labels	Sony Music, American, Columbia
Associated acts	Achozen, Axis of Justice, George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love, Scars on Broadway, Serj Tankian and The F.C.C., The Apex Theory
Website	www.systemofadown.com
Members
Daron Malakian Serj Tankian Shavo Odadjian John Dolmayan
Past members
Ontronik Khachaturian

System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California, formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (guitar, vocals), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums).

The band achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums; from which three debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "B.Y.O.B.". The group went on hiatus in August 2006, but reunited in November 2010, embarking on a worldwide tour in 2011.

History[link]

Soil (1992–1994)[link]

Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, and Shavo Odadjian all attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School while children, although because of their eight-year age difference they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio.^[1] They formed a band named Soil with Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who later played in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium) on bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian (another Rose and Alex Pilibos alumnus) as manager, although he eventually joined Soil as rhythm guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio quit the band, feeling that it was not going anywhere.

Demo tapes and signing (1994–1997)[link]

After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian formed a new band, System of a Down. The group took its name from a poem that Malakian had written titled “Victims of the Down."^[2] The word "victims" was changed to "system" because Odadjian believed that the alteration would appeal to a much wider audience and also because the group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved closer to their musical heroes, Slayer. Odadjian switched from guitar to bass and passed on his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and its founder David “Beno” Benveniste.^{[citation needed]} The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian's and Odadjian's who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.^[2]

System of a Down quickly made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released but appeared on file sharing networks around the time of the band's success with Toxicity about six years later. Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996. At the beginning of 1997, System of a Down recorded their final publicly released demo tape, Demo Tape 3. In mid 1997, drummer Khachaturian left the band because of a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan).^[2] Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.

The band's first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk ("we're Armenian" in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997. Soon after playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room the band caught famed producer Rick Rubin's attention who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997. Unlike the previous demo tapes, however, Demo Tape 4 was made only to be sent to record companies (although it has since been leaked onto the internet). Rubin signed the group onto his American/Columbia Records, and System of a Down began to record in Rubin's studio, laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album.

Also in 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.^[3]

Debut album (1998–2000)[link]

In June 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success as their first singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" became radio favorites and the music videos for both songs were frequently aired on MTV. After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support.

In November 1998, System of a Down appeared on South Park's Chef Aid album, providing the music for the song "Will They Die 4 You?" Near the end of the song Tankian can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" a line that would later be used in the song "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, South Park character Chef doesn't introduce them as he does for all other artist featured on the record.

System of a Down's former drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian, briefly reunited with the band at a show at The Troubadour in 1999, filling in on vocals for an ill Tankian.^[2] In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

[edit] Toxicity and Steal This Album! (2001–2003)

Guitarist Daron Malakian met Serj Tankian for the first time in 1993 before forming the band a year later.

On September 3, 2001, System of a Down had planned on launching their second album at a free concert in Hollywood as a "thank you" to fans. The concert, which was to be held in a parking lot, was set up to accommodate 3,500 people, however, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fans showed up. Because of the large excess number of fans the performance was cancelled by police officers just before the group took the stage. No announcement was made that the concert had been cancelled. Fans waited for more than an hour for the group to appear, but when a banner hanging at the back of the stage that read "System of a Down" was removed by security, the audience rushed the stage, destroying all the band's touring gear (approximately $30,000 worth of equipment) and began to riot, throwing rocks at police, breaking windows, and knocking over portable toilets. The riot lasted six hours, during which six arrests were made. The band's manager, David "Beno" Benveniste, later said that the riot could have been avoided if the group had been permitted to perform or had they been allowed to make a statement at the concert regarding the cancellation. System of a Down's scheduled in-store performance the next day was cancelled to prevent a similar riot.^[4]

The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at No.1 on the American and Canadian charts, despite the events of September 11. The album eventually achieved multi-platinum certification^{[citation needed]} and has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide.^{[citation needed]} It was still on top in America during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding the album's hit single "Chop Suey!" The song was taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the album's second single, "Toxicity". Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" (which earned a Grammy nomination), System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity" and "Aerials". In May 2006, VH1 listed Toxicity in the No.14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot throughout the United States and Mexico. Following a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Odadjian was harassed, ethnically intimidated, and was physically assaulted by security guards backstage, who then dragged him out of the venue. Odadjian received medical attention from police and later filed a suit against the security company.^[5] Despite the incident, the tour was a success and System of a Down and Slipknot went on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein in 2001.

In late 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions made their way onto the internet.^[6] This collection of tracks was dubbed Toxicity II by fans. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material and subsequently released the final versions of the songs as their third album, Steal This Album!, which was released in November 2002. Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book as well as a message to those who leaked the songs onto the internet. The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq.

[edit] Mezmerize and Hypnotize (2004–2006)

Serj Tankian has gained reputation for his large vocal range along with his unusual vocal tactics.

Between 2004 to 2005, the group recorded the follow-up to Steal This Album!, a double album, which they released as separate installments six months apart from each other, notably including album cover artwork by Malakian's father, Vartan Malakian, which was designed to connect the two separate album covers. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005 to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at No.1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of A Down's second No.1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.", which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.

The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at No.1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at No.1 in the same year.^[7] In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.", beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.

Whereas on System of a Down's previous albums most of the lyrics were written and sung by Tankian and the music was co-written by Tankian and Malakian (and sometimes Odadjian) much of the music and lyrics on Mezmerize/Hypnotize were written by Malakian who also took on a much more dominant role as vocalist on both albums, often leaving Tankian providing keyboards and backing vocals.

Concert footage and interviews with the band concerning the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide were featured in the 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. An interview with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor of the Genocide, was also included in the film as well as Tankian's and Dolmayan's meeting with (then) Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert during which the two musicians campaigned for the United States government's official recognition of the Genocide. Footage of Tankian and Dolmayan marching with protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. was also used in Screamers.

System of a Down was honored at a University of Southern California game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize." System of a Down's song "Lonely Day" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.

In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest."^[8]

May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.

Hiatus (2006–2010)[link]

Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."^[9]

Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, Indicator, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store.^[10] Odadjian pursued his project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton's backing band.

Reunion and tour (2011–present)[link]

On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they would be reuniting for a string of large European festival dates in June 2011.^[11] Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival and Finland's Provinssirock. In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "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."^[12] On March 1, 2011 the band announced they will play several shows in western North America in May and June. The reunion tour commenced on May 10, 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta.^[13] On May 4, 2011, Brazil event organiser and promoter Roberto Medina announced that System will be headlining, alongside Guns N' Roses, his Rock in Rio 2011 festival on October 2 in Rio de Janeiro.^[14]

System's first tour through Mexico and South America began on September 28, 2011 in Mexico City, ending in Santiago, Chile on October 7, 2011.^[15] From late February to early March 2012, they will headline five dates at the Soundwave festival.^[16] This will be the band's first visit to Australia since 2005.

Asked in October 2011 whether System of a Down will record a new album, drummer John Dolmayan replied, "We're gonna take it day by day. [...] For the people who are waiting for an album — I know there's a lot of people waiting for an album; I'm waiting for an album just like they are. It's gonna happen when it's right and when we can make something that tops what we've done in the past. Because we don't really wanna rest on our laurels — where what you've done in the past is what you depend on. Well, I don't wanna do that, and I know the rest of the guys don't wanna do that. Instead of resting on our laurels, we wanna throw them away and create something new and specific for this generation that they can say that's their System of a Down."^[17]

On August 11 and 12, 2012, System will play the Heavy MTL and Heavy T.O. music festivals in Montreal and Toronto, respectively.^[18]

On April 23, 2012, it was announced on the band's website that they would do a summer tour of the eastern United States and Canada with special guests, Deftones.

Style[link]

Lyricism[link]

System of a Down's lyrics are often oblique^[19] or dadaist,^[19] and have discussed topics such as drug abuse,^[19] politics^[19][20] and sexual intercourse.^[19][20]

All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting the Armenian Genocide of 1915 as well as the ongoing War on Terrorism.

Music[link]

The stylistic variety and level of experimentation^[21] in System of a Down's music has made it difficult to describe, but the group has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style has variously been termed alternative metal,^[22] alternative rock,^[23] art rock,^[24][25] avant-garde metal,^[26] experimental rock,^[27][28] hard rock,^[22][29] heavy metal,^[22] new prog,^[30] nu metal,^[31][32] progressive metal^[33][34] and progressive rock.^[35][36]

Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene"^[37] and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A 7-string guitar sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet."^[38] In interview with Mike Lancaster, he also said, "People always seem to feel the need to put us into a category, but we just don't fit into any category."^[39] According to Tankian, "As far as arrangement and everything, [our music] is pretty much pop. To me, System of a Down isn't a progressive band. [...] But it's not a typical pop project, obviously. We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before."^[40]

The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, ouds, sitars and twelve string guitars.^[41] According to Malakian, he would often write songs in E♭ tuning, which would later be changed to drop C tuning in order to be performed by the band.^[38] Malakian states that "For me, the drop-C tuning is right down the center. It has enough of the clarity and the crisp sound—most of our riffy stuff is done on the top two strings, anyway—but it's also thicker and ballsier."^[38]

Influences and comparison to other artists[link]

The band's influences include Middle Eastern music,^[42] Ozzy Osbourne,^[37][42] Dead Kennedys,^[43] Frank Zappa,^[44] Slayer^[42] and Van Halen.^[43] One reviewer claimed that their music encompasses different sounds, from sounding like "Fugazi playing Rush" to sometimes "tread[ing] close to Frank Zappa territory."^[35] Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band."^[45] Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down."^[46] Odadjian stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."^[46]

Awards and nominations[link]

System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song B.Y.O.B.. The band has also been nominated for several Kerrang! and MTV awards.

Grammy Awards

General

• In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
• In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
• In 2006, System of a Down's song "Toxicity" was No.14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list

Band members[link]

Occasional contributors

• Arto Tunçboyacıyan – percussion, composition (on Toxicity: "Science" and "Arto". Steal This Album!: "Bubbles" and some live concerts in 2005)^[47]
• Harry Perry – rhythm guitar (Ozzfest 2006)

Discography[link]

• System of a Down (1998)
• Toxicity (2001)
• Steal This Album! (2002)
• Mezmerize (2005)
• Hypnotize (2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: System of a Down

• Official website

vep:System of a Down

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (July 2008)

John Dolmayan (born July 15, 1972 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American songwriter and drummer. He is best known as the drummer of System of a Down. Dolmayan is also the drummer for the band Scars on Broadway and Indicator.

Early life[link]

John Dolmayan was born in Beirut, Lebanon.^[1][2] During the Lebanese Civil War, the young Dolmayan's (empty) bed was hit by a stray bullet. After the incident his family decided to emigrate, and, after briefly living in Toronto, they moved to California.

Dolmayan first became interested in drums at the age of two. His father was a saxophone player and when his mother would take him to watch his father play, he would mimic his father's drummer. He learned to play the drums by putting on records and practicing, "4-6 hours a day, depending on the particular day. I did that for years and years. I developed my own style from basically taking from so many different styles. I used to play with whatever I could get my hands on, which included my Dad’s collection of jazz albums and the rock albums that my friends and I had." ^[3]

Dolmayan is a fan of The Who and cites Who drummer Keith Moon as his biggest influence. Other drummers that he cites as major influences include Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Stewart Copeland from The Police, and Rush's Neil Peart.^[3] He has also been influenced by jazz music.^[3]

System of a Down[link]

Dolmayan joined System of a Down in 1997 after their original drummer, Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, left the band after a hand injury.

Dolmayan recorded five albums with System of a Down: System of a Down (1998), Toxicity (2001), Steal This Album! (2002), and, most recently, Mezmerize (2005), and Hypnotize (2005).

Dolmayan won DRUM! Magazine's 2006 Drummer of the year and was the feature story in their September edition.^[when?]

Scars on Broadway[link]

After System of a Down went on hiatus in 2006 Dolmayan teamed up with Daron Malakian (System of a Down's guitarist/vocalist) to form a new band called Scars on Broadway, which recorded their eponymous debut album in 2007 and 2008. The album was released in the summer of 2008 and Dolmayan, Malakian, guitarist Franky Perez, bassist Dominic Cifarelli, and keyboardist Danny Shamoun performed concerts and prepared to embark on a tour in support of the album before Malakian suddenly cancelled the tour in October 2008.

In August 2009, Dolmayan, Franky Perez, Danny Shamoun, and Dominic Cifarelli as Scars on Broadway traveled to Iraq for a USO tour across the U.S. army bases. Their setlist consisted of covers as well as a few Scars on Broadway songs.

Scars on Broadway reunited with Malakian on May 2, 2010 and plans on doing another show in Los Angeles in August 2010.

Other projects[link]

Dolmayan recorded drums for Killing Joke's 2003 self-titled album^{[citation needed]}, (although the band ended up going with Dave Grohl's tracks^[4]) as well as Scum of the Earth's debut album, Blah...Blah...Blah...Love Songs for the New Millennium. He also played drums on the Axis of Justice concert tour with various artists and on the Serj Tankian solo debut, Elect the Dead^{[citation needed]}, and joined Tool on stage for a few shows.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2009, Dolmayan began forming a new rock band called Indicator with three friends from Southern California who were formerly in a punk rock band, Tom Capossela, Ryan Huber, and Ryan Murphy.^[5] The band played their first show at The Bitter End on July 22, 2009, with Dolmayan's fellow Scars on Broadway member Franky Perez joining the band for a few songs. The band plans on releasing^[when?] an album called Have We Gone Too Far?.^[5]

Dolmayan performed with System of a Down bandmates Malakian and bassist Shavo Odadjian and Scars on Broadway guitarist Franky Perez for Odadjian's Halloween show. Dolmayan, Malakian, and Odadjian performed together again in November 2009 during a charity show for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng.

Dolmayan has also devoted a lot of his time the past few years in the Comic Book retail industry, including launching Torpedo Comics out of Nevada.

Discography[link]

Equipment[link]

Dolmayan drumset

Tama drums and hardware, Paiste cymbals, and Evans drumheads:

• Drums - Tama Starclassic Bubinga ^[6]
  • 10"×8" Tom
  • 12"×9" Tom
  • 14"×11" Tom
  • 18"×16" Floor Tom
  • 22"×18" Bass Drum
  • 14"×6" Warlord Series Masai Snare

However, the recent pic shown here and his recent concert videos show a much larger set.

• Cymbals - Paiste ^[7]
  • 14" RUDE Hi-Hat
  • 18" Signature Full Crash
  • 20" Signature Full Crash
  • 24" 2002 Crash
  • 24" RUDE Mega Power Ride
  • 10" Signature Splash
  • 22" Traditionals Medium Light Swish

• Sticks - Vic Firth ^[8]
  • John Dolmayan Signature 16" length, .585" diameter

Awards[link]

• In 2002, System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Metal Performance for their song "Chop Suey!"
• In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
• In 2006, John won Drum! Magazine's drummer of the year award. He also won the alternative rock drummer of the year award.
• In 2006, System of a Down's song "Toxicity" was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list
• In 2007, System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for their song "Lonely Day"
• In 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for their song "B.Y.O.B."

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: John Dolmayan

• Stereokill Interview: May 2009
• John Dolmayan page at SOADFans
• Torpedo Comics Website
• John Dolmayan page at drummerworld.com