System of a Down reunited

System of a Down have been apart for around five years now and now the band is reuniting for some festival gigs overseas.

The big question is, will the band also get together to record a new album and will it be any good? Mesmerize was the last album released by the band I enjoyed throughout. Hypnotize didn't really impress me songwise and continued to feature too much of Daron Malakian's vocals.

Hopefully if the band gets back in the studio, Daron gets off his egotistical high horse and sticks to writing songs and backing vocals, while Serj takes over the lead work. Then I will show some interest.

I do enjoy plenty of System of a Down's back catalog, so since the is a music blog after all, I'll post a few right here.

Oh, and I'll be more interested when Faith No More announces a US reunion tour (although it would be even cooler with Jim Martin, they should at least bring him back for an encore at a few shows, a la Kiss Unplugged, and have both guitarists jamming out).

Serj Tankian and the Orchestra

Elect the Dead may not exactly be full of raging metal tunes, but I think it was an excellent album. Although, that probably depends on whether you like Serj Tankian as a vocalist or not to begin with.

The dude sings his ass off all the time and his voice isn't half-bad once you get used to it, unlike that other System of a Down guitar fellow.

Now Tankian is working with an orchestra to release a live recording of the album's material. Seems fitting enough to me... although I question the necessity of playing with an orchestra for some bands.