SYSTEM OF A DOWN has revealed the details of a very special livestream fundraising event on Saturday, January 30, culminating with the music video premiere of the band’s “Genocidal Humanoidz” single.
The group once again steps up to support humanitarian efforts in their ancestral homeland of Armenia when needed most. The livestream will be broadcast exclusively on the band’s official YouTube channel.
In the tragic aftermath of the most egregious violence to affect the area since 1994, soldiers for the Defense Army of Artsakh and Armenia (many of them volunteers) suffered war crimes at the hands of the invaders- Azerbaijan abetted by Turkey and their Syrian mercenaries. These young men, wounded in the conflict, remain in dire need of prosthetics, advanced treatment, and medical care. SYSTEM OF A DOWN is hosting the livestream in order to raise money to rehabilitate and outfit soldiers who have lost arms and legs with life-changing prosthetic limbs. Additionally, funding will benefit the introduction of groundbreaking laser therapy for the treatment of chemical burns from banned white phosphorous weapons. All proceeds from the livestream will be donated to this noble cause.
The livestream launches at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET. The band will welcome a roster of guests to join them for interviews. These include representative for Armenia Fund USA Maria Mehranian, Armenian-American musician Sebu Simonian, “Good Day LA”‘s Araksya Karapetyan, Harvard clinician Dr. Lilit Garibyan (who leads the charity Face Of Angel which has established medical laser treatments in Armenia and now aims to provide medical scar laser treatments to soldiers with burn and trauma scars), Armenian parliamentarian Narek Mkrtchyan (who is leading the development of a new prosthetic hand lab and initiative with Homeland Defenders Rehabilitation Center), and director Adam Mason of Deep Sky Animation, who helped create the “Genocidal Humanoidz” music video. A special video from Lt. Colonel Sargis Stepanyan from Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund and additional videos of support from VIP friends of the band will be showcased throughout the livestream. Wrapping up the event, the video debuts worldwide at 11 a.m. PT/ 2 p.m. ET. Viewers may donate throughout the entire stream on the band’s YouTube channel.
In November 2020, SYSTEM OF A DOWN made new music available for the first time since 2005 in order to rally for Armenia. They released “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” and pledged royalties earned, including from purchases on Bandcamp, to the major non-profit, Armenia Fund. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they have raised over $600,000 so far.
“Genocidal Humanoidz” and “Protect The Land” were both produced by guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian, who also wrote the music and lyrics.
The music video for “Protect The Land” incorporated recent footage of the protests and on-the-ground fighting in Artsakh, but in a very personal and aesthetic way. As he did for all previous SYSTEM OF A DOWN releases, bassist Shavo Odadjian executive-produced the music video and curated the cover and brand art for the project.
On the recording of “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”, Odadjian added: “It was such a pleasure for us to be together in the studio again, very comforting and natural, like no time had passed at all.”
“Protect The Land” a was originally written by Malakian for the next album by his other group, SCARS ON BROADWAY, while “Genocidal Humanoidz” was penned three or four years ago when Odadjian, Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan convened for a jam session that produced several songs, only to abandon them when singer Serj Tankian wouldn’t commit to an album.
Photo credit: Clemente Ruiz
