Adam’s Reviews > Down with the System: A Memoir > Status Update
Adam
is on page 105 of 352
Daron is kind of a goat honestly. He was way younger than Serj but was so knowledgeable about music that he managed to work with his passionate writing and singing. Daron telling Serj to "just sing the song" he wrote since the main guy was absent from practice was pretty monumental.
At this point, Serj just explained the birth and death of Soil and seems to be very close to SOAD territory. The pace really picked up.
— Aug 21, 2024 01:31PM
At this point, Serj just explained the birth and death of Soil and seems to be very close to SOAD territory. The pace really picked up.
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Adam’s Previous Updates
Adam
is 96% done
Holy holy holy. They got back together, but there were way too many creative differences. But then there was the Azerbaijan declaration of war against Armenia and their propaganda so the band submitted to Daron’s micromanagement just to get the songs out to protest.
Turkey really has some convincing parallels to Israel. Except unlike Israel America eventually acknowledged their genocide against the Armenians…
— Mar 27, 2026 02:32PM
Turkey really has some convincing parallels to Israel. Except unlike Israel America eventually acknowledged their genocide against the Armenians…
Adam
is 78% done
So, so interesting. This guy really is doing every single medium in genre he can get his hands on, he worked on all of the music for a theatrical performance of the story of Prometheus, another solo album which wasn’t as commercially successful but he didn’t seem bothered by that, an acoustic Armenian album with his dad which by the way is so beautiful and perfect given the story.
— Mar 27, 2026 05:06AM
Adam
is 74% done
OK wow, Serge describes his solo endeavors after system of a down as very liberating and successful, as well as allowing him to truly spread his wings across genres in mediums when he took work in music scoring and alongside his own debut album elect the dead, his work in basic orchestration of his own songs when working with a Philharmonic Orchestra. Really interesting.
— Mar 26, 2026 02:35PM
Adam
is 71% done
Wowowow. Serj was feeling more and more distant from the rock star culture of SOAD and wanted to be more of an artist, which makes sense ofc with his context, but after enduring 80 concerts for the mesmerize tour, he’d absentmindedly said “sure, we’ll talk about it later” in email when asked if he’d want to do more shows in 2006.
Chavo threatens lawsuit, serj forced to perform for hypno concerts. Betrayal
— Mar 26, 2026 12:55PM
Chavo threatens lawsuit, serj forced to perform for hypno concerts. Betrayal
Adam
is 64% done
Serj experiments with other artists and makes more freeform music and is clearly more invested in poetry and political activism then Daron or the rest of the system of a down band for that matter.
Alongside a break up and disagreements over the creative vision of system of a down, serj says he wanted to “just take a short break.”
— Mar 26, 2026 05:08AM
Alongside a break up and disagreements over the creative vision of system of a down, serj says he wanted to “just take a short break.”
Adam
is 60% done
Chop Suey was named that because the original song name was Suicide, but unacceptable single title, and the song was chopped up into many edits of itself over time…
After the release of Toxicity, SOAD’s popularity surged and they became mainstream, with of course Choo Suey, Toxicity, and Aerials floating around on radio stations everywhere.
With the Iraq War, Serj was invested in political messaging.
— Mar 25, 2026 10:22AM
After the release of Toxicity, SOAD’s popularity surged and they became mainstream, with of course Choo Suey, Toxicity, and Aerials floating around on radio stations everywhere.
With the Iraq War, Serj was invested in political messaging.
Adam
is 44% done
There were a couple funny bits about Serj experimenting with drugs, one where he saw blood on his hands while at a concert and showed it to Daron, who said “you’re good bro you’re just tripping” but later said he also saw it bc he was high too so he was kinda saying that for Serj.
The other i can’t recall since it got more introspective right after that. Serj meditates and visits Armenia in like 1999…
— Mar 24, 2026 01:04PM
The other i can’t recall since it got more introspective right after that. Serj meditates and visits Armenia in like 1999…
Adam
is 41% done
The band had to play as opener for slayer, which apparently was as rough as one who knows the reputation of slayer fans would imagine. It sounds like, by the way Serj orders the story, opening for big concerts was the next step as an official band.
— Mar 23, 2026 02:32PM
Adam
is 37% done
Okay, I backtracked a bit when going book to audiobook (since I didn’t use page match), but that’s honestly a good thing for refreshment’s sake.
Rick Ruben signed on SOAD back in the day when their most popular song was WAR from their Soil days, they’re officially a “professional band” now. Their popularity from their grungy angsty party-time Soil days provides momentum for a fanbase.
— Mar 23, 2026 01:35PM
Rick Ruben signed on SOAD back in the day when their most popular song was WAR from their Soil days, they’re officially a “professional band” now. Their popularity from their grungy angsty party-time Soil days provides momentum for a fanbase.
Adam
is on page 106 of 352
1.5x speed audiobook, read by yours truly, don't fail me now!
— Mar 23, 2026 10:12AM
