Over the years, System Of A Down‘s “Chop Suey!” has become a uniting force among fans of hard rock, heavy metal, alternative, and even goth (that last one might feel weird, but you have to remember that it has lyrics about suicide and angels dying). Now, the spunky turn-of-the-millennium anthem has reached a new milestone, with the video officially surpassing one billion views on YouTube.
Take a second to think about that — a video by System Of A Down, an Armenian-American alt-metal group, has hit a BILLION VIEWS on YouTube. That means that ostensibly one eighth of the planet’s population has at some point yelled, “YOU WANTED TO!” at their cat while dancing around their kitchen.
The last metal or hard rock video to hit this massive number was Linkin Park’s “In The End,” which surpassed the one billion mark last June. That said, one could argue that System Of A Down reaching this point is a slightly bigger deal, as their song is a little weirder and less traditional than Linkin Park’s.
Check out “Chop Suey!” below and add to the billions:
Nearly two decades since “Chop Suey!” first graced our ears. System Of A Down are still at it. Earlier this month, the band released “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz,” their first new tracks in 15 years. The songs were written to benefit the people of Artsakh during their current conflict with Azerbaijan and Turkey — an effort which resulted in System making over $600,000 for the Armenia fund.
“The aggression and injustice being perpetrated against the Armenian people in Artsakh and Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey is a human rights violation and a war crime,” said frontman Serj Tankian. “All of us in System realize this is an existential battle for our people, so this is very personal for us. What we need right now is for the world to put politics aside and support Armenia by sanctioning Turkey and Azerbaijan and recognizing Artsakh.”
In fact, “Protect The Land,” the slower and more traditional of the two tracks, is in support of Armenian troops — giving fans the rare pro-military System Of A Down song. Meanwhile, “Genocidal Humanoidz” is more frantic, complete with a full-on blastbeat in the middle. “Protect The Land” also comes in the form of a music video executive-produced by bassist Shavo Odadjian.
“I wanted to show the unification of our people around the world for one common cause, illustrating the power in numbers,” said Odadjian, “so we brought together people from all ages and professions who believe in and are fighting for that same cause. It’s one thing to come up with an idea, but to see it come alive as happened with this video, has been just incredible.”
Listen to these new tracks below:
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Words by Chris Krovatin
