Scars on Broadway Reveal ‘Lives’ Video, Plan for ‘Dictator’ Album

While there is still no new music from System of a Down to share, the band's members are keeping active. Serj Tankian revealed a bit of a track called "Electric Yerevan" over the weekend, while Daron Malakian returns today (April 23) with a brand new Scars on Broadway song and video called "Lives."

The clip debuted at Rolling Stone, along with the information that Scars on Broadway will be releasing a full-length album called Dictator on July 20.

"Lives" is a driving track, leaning on some low end heaviness to push the track forward. Malakian sings in the chorus, "All of our lives we put up a fight / Our heroes have died / All of our we've known wrong from right / Our people survive." The song is streaming on Spotify in the player below.

"I'm Armenian, so I wanted to do something for Armenian people – especially since April 24th is the day we remember the genocide," Malakian told Rolling Stone, noting the date the country recognizes as the start to the genocide propagated by Ottoman Turks in 1915. "It's about being proud that people did survive the genocide, and it's not just for Armenian people. It could be for anybody whose people have suffered that type of thing, such as Native Americans."

As for the video, the Hayk Matevosyan-directed clip finds the band performing while a mix of dancing troupes perform traditional Armenian folk dances. Malakian also wanted to make sure the video included a certain style of dance and costuming. It's definitely a visually interesting and upbeat clip.

Speaking about the new album, Malakian confirmed that a lot of the work for it was done in 2012. "I recorded the album and then around that time System started playing live again. So every time we'd play live, there'd be conversations like, 'Maybe we'll do an album.' So being the guy who wrote the majority of almost all the System songs in the past, I was like, 'All right, let me see what's happening with it. Let me hold onto these songs and let me see how this develops,' recalls Malakian. "We talked about it and we weren't all on the same page. Not everybody was into the idea. But every time we played live, it kept coming up. I just got to the point now where a lot of people were asking about the Scars album – I hear it all the time – so I was like, 'I'm gonna put this album out.' Not knowing what's happening with System has kept me from putting my own stuff out. Too much time has passed, and I'm really excited to finally get some music out finally."

Malakian reveals he played all the instruments on the disc and recorded it in under 10 days. He adds that while the original Scars album was still fresh in his mind at the time of recording, the new disc also borrows from System of a Down's sound. "This album has that rock flavor as well, but it has more of a System of a Down flavor, too, because System has more of the metal tones going on there," says Malakian.

Now billed as Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway, the System guitarist is the lone holdover from the previous lineup of the band. "Nobody quit. When I first started Scars, I always said that it would be different lineups from album to album. Depends on the type of direction I want to take. Different musicians work for different styles. That is partly why I added my name in front of the band's," Malakian recently stated of the new look lineup. As for touring, nothing is planned as of yet, but Malakian says he's open to the idea.

Stream Scars on Broadway's "Lives"

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