Given the sporadic activity in the System Of A Down camp amid the past decade or so, members of the multi-platinum Armenian-American nü-metal band have had ample time to indulge in their various respective side projects.
One of the more tenured of those ventures is Scars On Broadway — the alternative metal band fronted by System Of A Down‘s primary songwriter, guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian. With System Of A Down‘s frustratingly long creative impasse having deprived Malakian of his primary outlet, he’s since channeled the bulk of his creativity into Scars On Broadway.
It is that venture that has served as a catchall for numerous tracks he had originally written with intention for use amid System Of A Down‘s ultimately failed attempts to return to the studio.
However, Scars On Broadway haven’t exactly been prolific themselves, last releasing their sophomore album “Dictator” in 2018. Recent weeks have seen a newly expanded vinyl reissue of the group’s 2008 self-titled debut album scheduled for a November 22nd release. Some associated bonus tracks from it also got a proper digital release earlier this month.
Given that the band also played their first live show since 2019 last week, one would assume the band are ready to make their way back to the spotlight. TAs it so happens, they are somewhat right, as Malakian has revealed that a third studio album from Scars On Broadway is already completed.
Speaking with Metal Hammer recently, Malakian stated of it:
“I have the third record. I’m just sitting on it! I’ve had it [done] for a while now and things just keep coming up. I made these [Scars] shows happen because I thought the record would have happened by now, but things just didn’t work out. I’m still waiting to put the record out and crossing my fingers that we’ll have something out early to mid-next year.”
During that same conversation, Malakian was also asked about whether or not he and his bandmates in System Of A Down felt connected to the nü-metal scene they rose up in. He responded:
“I’m proud of that scene. There’s always been a lot going on in LA, going right back to the 60s with The Doors, up to bands like The Eagles in the 70s, the glam rock era… There’s been an LA music scene almost constantly across that time and I’m happy to have contributed to that. I feel like there hasn’t been too much out of LA since [System Of A Down] so it feels like nu metal was the last bunch of bands to really come up out of that.
There might be particular things within the way I write or even the way System Of A Down are as a band that you can certainly mix into that [nu metal] category, but I’ve always had huge respect for the bands who were doing their own thing within that movement. I hate categorising music in general though; I don’t think System Of A Down sound like Korn, we all just came up at the same time.”
When asked if he found the height of the nü-metal era an exciting time to be in a band, he replied:
“I’ll be honest, we came up at a time where metal wasn’t doing so well. When we first toured with Slayer [in 1998,] they weren’t playing arenas – they were playing theatres in the US. We’d gone from metal being this huge thing in the 80s to the Seattle thing coming in and kinda killed off a lot of metal, like the speed metal bands of that time. That includes a lot of the bands I really loved. Even in the late 90s, it felt like it was more alternative rock that was popular, so this group of bands that you’d possibly call nu metal, or alternative metal and events like Ozzfest really brought metal back to the mainstream.
All these bands like us, Korn and whoever were getting played on mainstream radio and really helped put metal back in a good place. But then you had these bands that came along that all sounded similar and I think that’s when it started to lose respect. It became cookie cutter and every label wanted their own version of whatever band was big at that time. Good luck finding four Armenian guys! The bands that came up in that scene to start with like us, Korn and Deftones were just trying to do something original and take metal to a whole other level, mesh in different things.”
The original explosion of popularity for nü-metal around the late 90s and early 00s is often viewed as the last time metal as a whole was able to rule the mainstream charts. It was during that era multiple artists from the genre attained multi-platinum, or even diamond-certified status within the United States.
Later in the chat, Malakian also explained his own reticence to touring — at least when it comes to Scars On Broadway. System Of A Down‘s reluctance to tour at length have mostly been attributed to vocalist Serj Tankian in recent years. It’s not an entirely unmerited assumption either, as Tankian himself has had no qualms in expressing his lack of interest in hitting the road for lengthy stints.
In this new interview, Malakian communicated his own lessening interest in touring as well, stating:
“…I’m really a homebody. I’ve never really enjoyed touring and so I will play live shows with Scars, I just can’t promise anyone how much touring I’d do with them. Scars are the kind of band that if you see us, just know you’re watching a band who don’t play live often. They’re very special to me, these shows, because they’re rare and for the people who really enjoy Scars I’m always like ‘get it while you can’ ha ha. I like to do things at my own pace, with no pressure.”
When it was pointed out that there is a growing number of musicians who are taking a more nuanced approach to touring in terms of length and time away from home, Malakian responded:
“You get all these festivals and fans definitely want you to be everywhere, but I don’t know. The Beatles are one of the greatest bands that’s ever been, and like half their careers they didn’t play live, they just put out records. It seemed like some people used to think you weren’t even really a band if you weren’t busting your ass touring.
But me and the guys in Scars, we play every week… just in my house! We love to play, so we just do it for us. We do love to play live too, but for me it’s something I’ve done a lot of and I’ve never really enjoyed leaving home. But hey, some guys love it! Not everyone is made up to tour until they’re 85 years old, you know?”
Scars On Broadway are set to play their second show since 2019 tomorrow, October 11th as part of this year’s ‘Aftershock Festival‘ in Sacramento, CA.
