Their original name was Victim Of A Down. They changed "victim" to "system" so they could be close to Slayer in the record racks. When they were on the rise, they opened for Slayer, whom Daron Malakian idolized.
Formed in the Little Armenia section of Southern California, all four members have lineage in the Middle East. Dolmayan is Lebanese-Armenian, Odadjian and Tankian are Armenian, and Malakian is Iraqi-Iranian. They are all of Armenian descent and their families were affected by the Armenian Genocide, which began in 1915 at the beginning of World War I when the Turkish military began deporting and killing about 1.5 million Armenians.
They were never a cover band. When they started performing in 1995, they did all original songs, many of which (including "Sugar," "Suite-Pee" and "P.L.U.C.K.") were included on their debut album three years later.
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