Serj Tankian Interview on SOAD’s Fearful Experience with Slayer
Serj Tankian talks about the System of a Down opened for Slayer on tour and played the song “Baptism of Fire.” System of a Down‘s frontman Tankian mentioned why they had a fearful experience with Slayer band during the tour.
With their booming sound and wild stage appearance, Slayer gained a reputation as a powerful force in the thrash metal scene. SOAD were used to playing for big crowds, but they saw the Slayer tour as a test, a musical boot camp where they had to do more than act.
When looking at SOAD‘s performance through the lens of this partnership, it went beyond what we usually think of as an opening act. Instead, it became a harmonic union of two contrasting musical forms. When System of a Down‘s complex melodies and Slayer‘s constant violence met, they made a soundscape that collected fans.
Tankian mentions how things worked inside SOAD and how the Slayer tour had a huge effect on their artistic growth. He also explained that the band’s first fear wasn’t of Slayer’s domination, but of having to match the band’s energy. Fear didn’t stop them; instead, it pushed them to grow as artists by pushing them to explore new areas in their act.
The time SOAD spent working with Slayer wasn’t just an opening act; it was a place where art could grow. The boot camp encouraged them to try new creative styles and ideas, pushing their creativity limits and eventually changing the direction of SOAD’s future work.
During the new interview with Knotfest host Ryan J. Downey, Serj Tankian talked about what opening for Slayer around the release of “System of a Down” really felt like on the tour:
“We were f*****g scared, bro, on stage. It was boot camp, just surviving, learning how to work an audience. ‘Cause Slayer audiences will hate everyone else, obviously, But that brings back a lot of memories, because it was our first tour as well. And Daron Malakian was all glammed out. I had, like, weird s**t on my face. And they would look at us, like, ‘Who the f*** are these f*****g idiots?’
“And we had to impress from, like, not just base zero point, but negative point. We had to get up there and score points. And that, my friend, was an incredible boot camp as touring artists that really, really kind of made us. It molded us.
Serj Tankian added how its feel touring with Slayer:
“Our first tour was with Slayer, and after you play in front of a Slayer crowd, everything else is easy. And they were very accepting of us, very supportive, and the people were super nice to us, and they would actually listen.
Slayer audiences can be brutal. Tom Araya came up to us and said, ‘Let me know if you have problems,’ and they would watch us every night, they were so good to us and supportive and nice people, and I miss them dearly.”
Serj Tankian also mentioned how much he misses Jeff Hannemen:
“I miss Jeff. He was such a good guy. He would share music with us and come hang out with us, and we were just this little band driving around in an RV. We got to know Dave Lombardo as well at the time. He’s a sweet guy, and Paul Bostaph, of course, was a very nice guy, great drummer. Our first tour in the U.S. was with them, and they took us to Europe as well, and it was us, Slayer and Sepultura. What a great trio that was a great experience for us.”
Watch the full interview below!
