A SERJ OF CREATIVITY; SOAD SINGER GOES SOLO FOR ELECT THE DEAD
Mitchell Peters, Billboard

The Calgary Herald (Alberta)
October 23, 2007 Tuesday

Spotlight
Elect the Dead is in stores today.

– – –

When System of a Down (SOAD) frontman Serj Tankian goes solo, he
really goes solo.

On Elect the Dead, "I wrote all the music, perform the majority of it,
I produced it myself and it’s on my label — it can’t get more solo
than that," Tankian said while lounging in a Hollywood practice studio.

The artist is exhausted on this drizzly evening in late September,
having just finished a daylong rehearsal session for his current
U.S. theatre tour. But a hectic schedule of writing songs, promoting
his album, overseeing his label Serjical Strike, volunteering his time
to political/social causes, publishing books, producing albums and
scoring music for films and video games doesn’t seem to slow him down.

"They’re all things in my vision that I know I’m supposed to do,"
he said. "I’m just trying to enjoy it, and when I feel overwhelmed
I try to gain objectivity, walk away and breathe."

But life’s path wasn’t always as clear. Tankian, a former software
developer, said that when SOAD released its self-titled debut in 1998,
"I had no clue we’d have this kind of popularity."

Before the Los Angeles four-piece went on "indefinite hiatus" in 2006
to focus on solo projects, its five albums had sold nearly 10 million
units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "We were
doing things our way, trying to be true to our music and ourselves,"
Tankian said. "I still look at things that way."

With Elect the Dead, Tankian hasn’t strayed far from SOAD’s politically
edgy lyrical themes and guitar-heavy riffs, spiced with hints of his
Armenian musical heritage. To help achieve that sound, he tapped SOAD
drummer John Dolmayan and former Primus drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia,
along with guitarist/bassist Dan Monti, to contribute.

The 12-track set reveals a softer side of Tankian, demonstrated
through songs about love and heartbreak, accompanied by classical
piano, acoustic guitar, stringed instruments and operatic harmonies
from soprano Ani Maldjian.

SOAD "had the political and humorous stuff, but didn’t have the
personal stories or philosophical theorization that this album
does," Tankian said. He added, however, that album track The
Unthinking Majority — "the closest song to what System has done"
— was first released on MySpace not only because of its "blatant
political message," but as an homage to SOAD fans "who carried my
band . . . for the past 11 years."

And fans have responded positively. The album’s first radio single,
Empty Walls, a shred-fest that includes references to "bodies burning"
and "choking from intoxication," has climbed to No. 9 on Billboard’s
Modern Rock chart.

After completing his stateside tour in late October, Tankian will
head overseas to open for the Foo Fighters in U.K. arenas. Then he’ll
return for a handful of TV spots and radio shows in December, to be
followed by a full-fledged tour in 2008.

As for future solo albums, expect to hear much more. "I have hundreds
and hundreds of pieces of music, from electronic to experimental to
classical to rock to punk to noise — whatever," Tankian said.

"Anything that I say I want to do, I already have a record’s worth
of songs."