We’ve seen the various members of alt-metal icons System Of A Down express their other artistic interests in different ways, from vocalist Serj Tankian’s solo work to guitarist Daron Malakian’s various bands. Now, the first single from bassist Shavo Odadjian’s band North Kingsley has premiered online, and is available to stream.
The song is called “Like That?”, and goes hard in the rap-rock direction, with the rap side pretty dominant. That said, the morbidity of the track lends itself towards a hard rock/metal kind of vibe. The lyrics are basically about the desire to be hardcore and stand up for yourself, but they’re tempered by the chorus’ main line, “Are you gonna die like that?” It’s pretty damn effective, albeit entirely different from SOAD.
“We’re giving you songs you can marinade on, instead of 12 songs all at once,” Odadjian said in a press release, echoing a sentiment that a lot of young bands are feeling right now. “There’s going to be a clip for every song, something visually for you to vibe on. I directed videos for System, I do stage production visuals for the band so that’s important to me. Saro has an incredible eye for creating new things visually and I act almost how a producer would on that and we are going to drop merch with every release, so it’s more than just music.”
“I love to collaborate. I love to hear my ideas come through other people. There is strength in numbers. Saro would make the beats, and I would play guitar and bass — and not in a way that you’d usually hear in rock. When Ray came in, he was very turned on to what’s going on socially and politically. They both know their way around the studio with what’s new and fresh. I played hard to get for a little while with them, but the vibe and what we were working on was so cool that it became the start of North Kingsley.”
Listen to “Like That?” below:
“Like That?” will be featured on North Kinsley’s three-song EP Vol. 1. Check out the artwork below.
