First reaction ever to System Of A Down! What other hard rock songs should I check out and analyze?

There aren’t many twenty year plus old songs that I still crank up to eleven when it comes on the radio. This is definitively one of them. Everything about this song is genius

man, Serj’s vocals are so beautifully unique.

You're the first commentator I've seen actually discuss Serj's fast vibrato at length. It's so surprising to see how many would gloss past such an integral detail; to me, it's hypnotic - impossible to ignore.

Serj was vocally opera trained, his voice is so powerful!

I really love Toxicity and Chop Suey in particular from SoaD. There is just... _such_ raw energy there, and sometimes... that rawness really is what is called for.

Please do "Spiders" by System Of A Down. I really love his singing in that one!

dude their drummer NAILS this shit live too. and serj nails it. and the whole fucking band absolutely nails it it's almost better live while maintaining this insane production level and cleanness to the instrumentation

Man, it doesn't matter how old the song is, I hear SOAD, I'm cranking it up! Serj is such a unique and dynamic vocalist. They are freaking awesome live too. Fantastic video, Peter! ❤

This era of music was so much fun. There was so much going on in all genres. So much collaboration and mixing of music. There was passion not just about the music, but the fanbase were involved. Concerts were some of the best I've been to. There was a healthy awareness about the world that we're living in.

Charismatic Voice, the other channel I go to for technical analysis, has started getting lessons on how to do harsh vocals in a healthy way, maybe you two could collaborate on something like that on your podcast?

Two words: Maynard James Keenan

SOAD is a staple in our house. Great to get some understanding of what we have been listening to - thanks Peter.

when i first listened to soad was back in 1998, never thought i would hear an opera singer give them praise. this is bridging gaps, so cool.

Please do SOAD "Suggestions", lots of Serg's vocal gymnastics. Also, "Sugar" is great, and "Question!". The band is phenomenal! So unique. I'm so bummed that i didn't even know they existed until well after the band broke up

Loved this reaction,and i would LOVE to see more on soad from you. Their music is incredible, serj is fantastic, daron is fantastic,and their voices together are something else altogether. Holy mountains, aerials, chop suey, spiders, question.. literally any song you could pick.😌

Wonderful R&A, as always. I love how you find groups that I have never heard of and would never have gone looking for. Definitely has broadened my horizons!

As most of the band are Armenian americans, singers especially Serj utilize they traditional armenian vocal styles that use a lot of vibeatto/yoddel type of sounds. You should check I-E-A-I-A-I-O - their song that i think showcases this traditional infuence best. Also my fave for the vocal are Spiders and Lonely day

Hola desde Argentina!!! Siempre te miro y me encanta que hayas reaccionado a SOAD!... LOS AMO.. y escucho hace como 15 años... Ellos son Armenios y hacen una música súper especial!!! Tienen muchos temas .. uno mejor que otros.. así que bienvenido al mundo SOAD!... espero que los disfrutes tanto como yo!... Un abrazo gigante a la distancia!!!

Great breakdown of this song. I like your style of reactions. I appreciate the analysis.

Definitely need to check out KoRn, Johnathan Davis has SUCH a unique voice, no one else could ever possibly be mistaken for him! Legendary! KoRn are considered the Godfathers of Nu-Metal! My favorite band for 20 years now!

Big time enjoyed watching and absorbing this video! Big respect to ya for recognizing the talent and skill required to perform this style of music. :)

Your approach to breaking down the instrumentation, structure, and vocals would be great to listen to for TOOL (Schism, The Pot, Lateralus). Great job

Serj had an excellently controlled voice..... so expressive

Damn! Thank you! Amazing education! I appreciate this very much!!! Thank you! I’m f-ing here for it bro!!!

System of a down is not hard rock. They were big during the nu metal era, so a lot of people label them nu metal. They definately are inspired by nu metal, sound and production wise, but they are more 'alternative metal'. Wich kinda means, hard to label. 😅They have elements of punk, nu metal, thrash metal, folk, psychedelic rock and prog.

I love your analysis. You really highlighted the beauty of rock and what I love about it. ❤

"Somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep...disorder!" How powerful a lyric! Serj has a lovely melodic voice but because it is also super powerful he can go hard on it too. Lovely analysis as always Peter! Thank you!🌷

You'd enjoy their vocalist's solo song "Gate 21", played the first time in Auckland with an orchestra behind his grand piano performance

I’ve noticed that for years, how vocalists reach for higher notes more towards the ends of songs. Seems like there must be a true musical term for it. And one day I was sort of jamming with some musicians in a basement, one of whom was a drummer on an acoustic kit. That thing was thunderously loud.

Your pausegame is pretemporal and analysis somehow brings a new voice into the crowded market of opera singers reacting. So, I'm subscribing.

Great video! I love that you mention his special vibrato, the first one I've ever heard done that. As an opera singer liking metal, you should really check out the Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. 'Rise of Sodom and Gomorra' live with full choir and orchestea from the Miscolk experience should be a good start.

You need to do The Grudge by Tool. Then do the rest of their songs.

Was so glad I got to see them during this tour a couple times. Last saw them back in like 06 at Ozzfest down in West Palm.

Dude... you should check Mb14 vs Saro beatbox battle. Mb14 do a full acapella cover of this song. I think your opinion about this would be awesome

The entire band is just so tight. Everything just nailed on all the beats, etc.

Algo hooked me up with this one. Fantastic react, really enjoyed the insight! Will be checking out the channel, and do tool next 😅

First time watching you break down this amazing vocalist,SOAD such a delight and a gift to us all…would love to see you do more on Serj.. promise you won’t be disappointed nor will we .

Nice voice dude! And solid analysis. I was hoping you would comment on his vibrato, and you did not disappoint 🙂 Though I wonder how much of it is natural and how much is trained.

Alice in Chains- Love, Hate, Love: Live @ The Moore in 1990 will blow your mind vocally, or Man in the Box from the same show is crazy powerful but with a bunch of backup harmony. Also, anything tool. Also more SOAD. Every song will give different looks at both singers. I dig the way you analyze these dudes.

man, i love serj and soad so much but i can listen to your speaking voice forever and ever and ever

Idk if you would know much in breaking down unclean/harsh metal vocals, but a vocalist named Alex terrible did a one take vocal performance of his new song. I'd be pretty interested in a reaction and analysis of that video of you'd be down

Serj has amazing control of his voice.

I think you'd really love SoaD's Aerials. It's *pretty*, while still being intense.

A really impressive vocalist i think you'd get a kick out of is Mike patten - Faith no more, mr bungle, fantomas to name just a few of the many bands he's been in. A real outlier in terms of range and variety of styles. Pink cigarette - mr bungle is a truly Beautiful song despite it's very dark themes and content. Check out out. Really interesting breakdown of serj tankian's vocal for toxicity, love it when people share their expertise so eloquently. Also Chris cornell, freddy mercury, Steven Tyler, lane staley, Steve Walsh, lou gramm, steven wilson, Ian Anderson. Roger Hodgson.... Ok I'll shut up now ..🤟🤟

It’s crazy how when you are re-creating rhythms that you’re hearing, it sounds so much better with your voice than with your iPad! Not crazy as in it surprises me, because your voice is amazing…just interesting.

Great analysis as usual. I used to listen to SOAD way back, now my kids do 🤣🖤

First time watcher on your channel. I subscribed during your intro. I loved observing your perspective and personality. You now have another follower to help you take over the world. Or just to learn about music... The point is that I'm all in. Freeeedoooommmm!!!!! Or... Rock!!!!! Or... AHHHHHHHHH (classical trained sound with vibrato). I will await your instructions. JK. I'm just trying to give you a little bit of fun - just like you did for me. Thank you! Stay awesome!

Hi Peter! Great analysis, as always. 👍 Since you said you like some Rock and Metal stuff, I would like to suggest Ayreon as a project to check out. With this project dutch composer, producer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen creates concept albums that tell stories in the larger Ayreon Universe. The music is ofter placed in Rock/Metal Opera. Arjen gathers a lot of great vocalists and intrumentalists to create his music. With your background I would suggest the first song of the Electric Castle Live show, which was a live performance of an entire album. The song introduces some of the characters of the story. It is called Isis And Osiris: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kJyJecWYsuDPio0.html The song most reactors cover first is The Day That The World Breaks Down from the album The Source. It is a studio recording and studio video, but has a lot of background info in the form of text pop-ups by Arjen and features 11 singers: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/paylgK6V1-C0oYk.html There is a lot of music to explore, but these two are a good starting point in my opinion. It woud be interesting to get an analysis of Arjen's music from your perspective as an Opera singer and producer.

M. Shadows and Avenged Sevenfold. Any song really but Live in the LBC shows off his chops live.

I found ur channel because of soad. If u did more I would definitely watch some more. Disturbed with the sound of silence is also a good one to listen to.

SOAD is always a great vocal workout! Sang opera in highschool before losing most of my hearing to meningitis. I love love love the vocal acrobatics and musical talent of this band. Every single song is unique and a great warm up, after warming up!

Mosh pits are awesome! I've seen seasoned moshers take care of and protect the newbies.

I always thought that the fast vibrato was a stylistic choice he made to really embelish that armenian traditional singing "mode". Never thought that in most cases it's a natural rhythm of one's voice box. Thank you for this!

Yeah... I had an opportunity to get into a mosh pit at a Faith No More, Metallica, Guns N Roses concert at RFK stadium in DC back in 1992. I'm a smidge under 5' 3" and when I saw it, I noped out of there! 😂 I didn't want to get crushed. I loved your reaction! I love metal and hard rock! I'm a genXer so SOTD is little after my time. I would love to see your reactions to older stuff but you've probably already heard them all! 😊

I recommend anything by mike patton. They call him the man with 1000 voices for a good reason

And to think you picked one of the few songs that Daron (the guitarist) isn't harmonizing above Serj 😂 Daron really hits some highs and does some things I've never heard from any other vocalist.

Metal mosh pits aren't about punching each other in the face ! Just some friendly pushing and shoving around lol I've been in many and never was hurt once. Metal heads are probably the friendlyiest crowd around

When I first moved here, as part of trying to connect with Community, I attended a couple Neo-Pagan drum circle. The circle met in a bookstore parking lot beside a busy highway. All the drums were various sizes of hand drums -- not a drumstick in sight. All it would take is about three or four drums going at the same time to drown out the sound of tracker-trailers driving by at highway speeds. I only went a few times: hard to make friends when you can't make conversation... But yeah. Drums are loud. Louder than people realize.

Serj is such an amazing vocalist. He is very unique and not what you really expect.

Oooh I like this branching out!

Early 2000s ) Thx for the reaction. It is fun to watch a professional react to their art!

They mix Into so many genres

Curious, are you familiar with beatbox? Codfish or D-low or vocodah??

I loved your analysis 👍

Hey bro!!! Amazing. Thanks. Doesen't matter if some people like this band or not. The fact is that they're unic. Greettings from Argentina

I'd be very very interested in your analysis of Holy Mountains. It's a bit of a polarising song. Many love it, many hate it. I personally think it's a masterpiece.

I always loved the raw recording style without much reverb or even synths in the background that was common towards the end of the 90s. I remember when we did our own record with our death metal band: it sounded so cool until the guy who was recording it started to put in all kinds of effects. After that it was just a soup of instruments that are very hard to differenciate.

Love to hear your R&Aon Disturbs Sound of Silence.

Do this same singers live show backed by an orchestra. Serj Tankian - elect the dead symphony - Lie Lie Lie It really shows his full vocal range and how much fun he has singing.

Ive watched a few 9f your videos now and i love your musical break downs you give you should react by drum head trial by protest the hero dudes vocals are super intense and theres a folk singer as a guest un a prog metal song

Love the reaction and the Avatar tats!!

Absolutely loved this! So good to hear your insight. You said you are a metal fan - would be very keen to hear you analyse some Jinjer.

Do more rock analysis and you'll get my support 😊

Okay! Literally just checked out your reaction to Jinjer & just like that, not even 5 mins into this video, I've hit the bell. Looking forward to checking out more of your stuff. Hope you look into my comment on the Jinjer video. All that aside: - Yup! Drums are bleeding loud on a live stage. - EDM morshpits? That's a thing? Look, if you're ever "on the floor" @ a metal concert & you don't wanna be apart of the chaos, just stay on the side-lines & you'll be totally fine.. Otherwise & most importantly, don't show up with peeps you need to babysit/keep together. That's a task that's not gonna be in your favour. Regardless.. 🍻

The lead singer serj has his own solo career, for his voice i would recommend his performance of empty wall with an orchestra.

Serj Tankian - Artsakh: very different voice and emotion, Serj singing in Armenian, acoustic version.

dude no closed fists allowed in moshpits u can shove , shoulder charge body slam but no hits or u get your ass kicked thats the code here. well sometimes u can hit the torso like a brotherly slap or something if get too hyped up but a punch to face is generally a no no

Personally I think I'd call this music genre "System Of A Down" can't think of many other bands with a similar sound

Recommending Aerials and his live gate 21 performance!

S.O.A.D is greatness !

SOAD is a really underrated band I think. I loved all their singles and even still I feel like I underrated them at the time but I appreciate them so much now.

Interesting analysis of one of my favourite songs. (Even if I can only see Pikachu on acid whenever I hear even a fraction of this song... ^^')

It would be amazing to see your reaction to the band Jinjer

Find anything with Marco Hietala on vocals, formerly part of a popular European band called Nightwish. He's Finnish and not well-known in the US.

Hi peter here are some suggestions for more rock/metal music. Ayreon - the day the world breaks down. This is usually where people tend to get into ayreon. A project from Arjen Lucassen a Dutch musician and producer that gets the "help" of lots of different musicians and on that track we have the 11 main singers for that album. Ayreon''s music is described by wiki as "prog rock/metal opera", I feel like the word space shoud be in there as well. This perticular video have Arjens own comments so you get to know the name of all the singers and some of Arjens own thoughts. "Devin Townsend performs 'Kingdom' for EMGtv" That is the youtube title. Devin makes what I would call a wall of sound and his interests are from some of the heaviest music to cassical. In this song you can hear him go from operatic sound to harsh vocal. He is alone in a studio with nothing but his guitarr and his sence of humor/showmanship. And ofc some prerocorded sounds to get the base etc out. Thank you for the analysis of toxicity one of the first songs that made me love soad. I much prefer the analysis over just reaction so I am happy with as man stops as you want to make, I find that to be the best parts and it is always nice to get other peoples point of view, perspective and knowledge on some of your favorite music.

This is a masterpiece

Hi Peter... May i suggest Rammstein with Mutter? Or any other song for that matter? If you want to review a little more metal😁

19:35 Metal moshpits are no different ^^ If you're trying to hurt someone in a moshpit, you generally shouldn't be in any moshpit.

You should grab a little 49 key portable cheap keyboard like a Casio instead of having to play finger twister on the iPad lol. Might be fun to have kicking around if you get the itch to write some tunes too.

Great song by them. But any of their music fro this period and before…is a must listen to me. Cranked up. As no one compares. No idea how happy I was when serj came back to be a part of system, again.

The fact: Serj (the singer) is trained opera singer!

Serj Tankian is an incrdeible singer and the guitarist Daron Malakian is also a great singer. Too bad SOAD haven´t made an album in 18 years

do questions by system alot of there songs have harmonies between serj the lead singer and daron malakian the guitarist questions is one of my favourite when it comes to there synergy and if you wanna hear the guitarist lead try hypnotize and lonely day or check out daron solo projects with his band scars on broadway

I like your voice!

You need to check out Dillinger Escape Plan, insanely technical band

My first/only mosh pit was Pantera at Aragon Ballroom Chicago. Typo O Negative opened. Was there with my sister, her boyfriend was a roadie on the tour. We were standing on the sidelines on the main floor. Pantera took the stage & next thing I know my sister was pushed into the crowd, I tried to hold onto her & was punched in the face by someone’s fist as I watched my older sister disappear into the crowd. Kinda funny looking back but at the time… it was f***ing hostile!!!

19:21 every mosh pit that I've been in are filled with people that will pick up a fellow mosher if they fall, hold up a lost hat or sunglasses or keys so whoever lost them can find them, and if anyone was trying to actually hurt people then most everyone in the pit would see to them being removed from the pit. Granted, I've never been to a hardcore punk show where it seems that punching or elbowing people is an accepted practice in the pit.

Serj is a classically trained opera singer

Serj actually used to be an opera singer as well.