A few years ago, System of a Down excited children of the oughties everywhere by reuniting. They did some touring in 2011, then played last Summer with Deftones around frontman Serj Tankian’s third solo album, Harakiri, which was promoted in between bands. And while the tour dates led to a lot of speculation about the band recording new music, that hasn’t happened yet. And it doesn’t seem like it’s about to, as Tankian has announced that he’ll be releasing two more albums this Summer.
Orca will be released on June 25th, and Jazz-iz Christ will be released on July 23rd, both through Tankian’s Serjikal Strike Records. Neither are traditional rock records. Orca, which was recorded last year, is a symphony that was recorded in October of last year after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Tankian partnered with the Das Karussell Orchestra at the Brucknerhaus in Linz Austria, who he’d also performed Elect the Dead Symphony with in 2010. The press release describes it as this:
With conductor Werner Steinmetz at the helm, the four acts of Orca mix influences from early 20th century composers with modern film compositional dynamics showing influences ranging from Ennio Morricone to Philip Glass. Listeners are met with a mingling of sounds and intertwining pieces that are both serene and bombastic at the same time, offering a fresh interpretation to the classical art.
As you might have guessed from the name, Jazz-iz Christ is a jazz-infused album. Much of the album is instrumental, with former Police drummer Stewart Copeland among those contributing to the album. The press release describes it as such:
Among others, there are considerable contributions from renowned pianist Tigran Hamasyan, flautist Valeri Tolstov, and trumpet player Tom Duprey. Additional performances from Stewart Copeland and actor/musician Davis Alpay and Vincent Pedulla make for a very unique collaboration. The 15 tracks that comprise Jazz-iz Christ, a mostly instrumental effort except for 4 tracks, are an amalgam of progressive jazz, electronic, ethnic and even rock elements, displaying a unique presentation of the genre itself.
Both of these definitely sound interesting, and are certainly ambitious. But if you’re expecting new music from System of a Down this year, it’ll probably be a while before that happens, even though System are touring Europe this Summer. Following that tour, Serj will be embarking on a European solo orchestral tour with the following dates:
09/19 Kiev, Ukraine @ Ukrania Hall
09/21 Yekaterinburg, Russia @ Kosmos Hall
09/23 Novosibirsk, Russa @ DK Zheleznodorozhnik
09/25 Krasnoyarsk, Russia @ Philharmony
09/27 Moscow, Russia @ Crocus City Hall
09/28 St. Petersburg, Russha @ Oriktybcrsky Concert Hall
10/03 Florence, Italy @ Teatro Comunale
10/04 Padova, Italy @ Gran Teatro Geox
10/05 Rome, Italy @ Auditorium Parco Della Musica
