1. System of a DownToxicity

My first exposure to System of a Down was seeing ‘Chop Suey!’ on a music video channel, and I just thought, ‘What the fuck is that. That is mental. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know who it is, but I know I like it.’

The changes in the song are mental. [Serj Tankian] is singing this beautiful lyrical bit one minute, then it just goes mad and blows your fucking head off. They also look so menacing, and the video is quite aggressive, and the energy of it all… I was really intrigued, and it immediately got me into System Of A Down. When I think back on it, the year 2000 was probably the most traumatic year of my life. I was dealing with personal issues, I was recovering from a really bad bout of depression, and I found so many times in life that music is my saviour. It’s a friend, your companion, your strength. Around this time I was listening to another album that we’ll go on to speak about, when I was wallowing in my darkness, but alongside that was this anger that I wanted to get out. Toxicity really did that for me. I’d get in the gym, I’d pump it up, and I’d just sweat.