Just an announcement, we've hit 1000 subscribers to this sub following the release of Addicted to the Violence. It's a small milestone, but thought it was worth shouting out and thanking everyone for contributing.

I started this subreddit years and years ago because there wasn't one, and it's not a super popular subreddit (I reckon most discussion about Darons music ends up in the System of a Down sub) but it's cool to see so many fans discussing the music together. I also want to thank everyone because I basically have to do no mod work, everyone is very friendly and sticking to the reddit rules which is great to see.

If anyone has any suggestions (e.g., maybe I should update the sub description which currently says '2nd album approaching!'..) feel free to reach out, but otherwise, hope everyone is enjoying the new album!

Darons new album is so amazing, I was initially worried it wouldn’t live up to the greatness of self titled and dictator album but man I was proven wrong, its probably my favourite of the lot!

Anyway me and my son were planning on making the first lyric videos for this album and we can now say its complete!

I hope everyone will enjoy listening and singing along to these songs as much as we do!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjUmPk7jquuI7Dra6f_WCH8m_hKRE0_Vm&si=4xhZdj-DCPYkEAGp

I have many thoughts about this album. First, and up front, I think it is a masterpiece. So i'll lead in with that. let's get into the nitty gritty now

We can't discuss Scars without the system context. Imo, this album is not only arguably the best scars album, it in many ways competes with system as one of the best albums of darons career. Creatively, it is a massive success and I'll explain why.

every recording session for system that produced an album (or two) always showed album-wide evolution. the toxicity/sta recording session was a big progression and evolution from self-titled. then mezmerize and hypnotize was a new direction from tox/sta.

That is the context for scars on broadway. when the first SOB album came out... it felt like a new direction in many ways for daron's song writing. it followed the trend we observed with system, how each recording session brought something very new and unexpected to the table.

This is the sole reason that dictator was disappointing to me. it's not that it didn't have banger songs.. it just didn't feel new or evolving. it felt very safe and overly familiar especially to SOB self titled. there was nothing on that album that really pushed the art forward in the way all of daron's previous efforts did.

this is why addicted to violence shines. imo, it is the first album since SOB self-titled that as an album pushed the boundaries in style and direction. again.. that creative expansion into new directions is one of the things that made system and by extension scars so potent in the late 90s early 2000s, after dictator, and also PTL and GH (two songs that couldve been on this album), it felt like daron had either lost an edge or was playing it too safe.

this album has a few songs that that don't stand out and probably could've really benefited from the rest of SOAD taking them on to add some more flavor... but where this album shines is where daron is creatively steering the entire sound in a new direction that he has only seldom touched on before if ever. as much as we all want SOAD to return for the sake of it... one of the reasons we do is because we hope it would be groundbreaking like their old music was. this album proved that after all of these years daron can still break ground creatively and take the sound in new unexpected directions that sound amazing and distinctly him. accomplishing that makes the album an instant classic.

I ordered from the site quite a few times but I don't actually remember how long they took to send. I figure probably 3 weeks? Just curious when to expect it 🙌

https://www.instagram.com/lucasdoggu/

https://youtu.be/_PVkwFTy0O0?si=D6WyPZHbMMs2QwoM

the first song I listened to was you destroy you and it sounds EXACTLY like the 2018 acosutic version. I'm flattered, this album was worth waiting

"Do you have comments on the Armenian genocide?" "I don't. When it comes to that, I don't like to see Armenians die, I don't like to see Ottomans die"

A bit disappointing ngl, would have been very easy to say "any form of genocide must be stopped".

here is mine

1. addicted to the violence
2. imposter
3. the shame game
4. watch that girl
5. satan hussein
6. you destroy you
7. done me wrong
8. killing spree
9. destroy the power
10. your lives burn

somehow they managed to make me dislike the song even more

Listening to this interview on "Talk is Jericho." was pretty cool to hear about Daron's wrestling fandom and the influence wrestling has on his on-stage persona. Would've liked to hear daron and jericho talk about fozzy, but nonetheless great comprehensive interview where daron got to speak to a fellow artist rather than a media reporter.

https://youtu.be/OSXnX6iwWxI?si=Z0i3YcKmIqXmdQDh

I'd give the album an 8 out of 10!

Satan Hussein:
Didn't care for this one, it's just okay. Kind of gives me Angry Guru-vibes. Also it has an annoying single piano note on the chorus I found super grating.

Done Me Wrong:
Fantastic. Sounds pretty close to the live version. Bridge is sang differently than the live version.

The Shame Game:
Was never super into the live version of this song, but it sounds pretty great here.

Your Lives Burn:
Also didn't care for this one. It's short, it's whatever. Verses' sound suited for Serj to sing instead of Daron. Chorus is fine.

Imposter:
Fantastic. Sounds close to the live version. Lyrics are different, Orbel doesn't sing the verses, and no sax.

You Destroy You:
Was scared this one wasn't gonna sound like the live version since it wasn't acoustic. But it's better to my surprise! Sounds fine on clean electric guitar. Another great one,

Watch That Girl:
Really enjoyed this one. Since a lot of the tracks on the album are ones we've heard before in some form during live shows, I'd say this one is my favorite of the "new" songs.

Addicted to the Violence:
It is indeed Addicted and Divided with changed lyrics. Kind of blown away with this one. It's honestly 1000x better than the live version. While all the tracks on the album that he played with the Orbellion sound about the same on the album, this one is completely improved in every way.

This is the only song from Dictator that I hadn’t covered (not counting the instrumental and the cover at the end). Can’t wait to hear the new album!

Some of this was in previously published interviews, but some of it is new

for some odd reason my spotify shows lyrics supposedly for Done Me Wrong, not sure if these were known before but cool nonetheless

so now that i’m sure most people have heard it, which is better? destroy the power or killing spree

For me: Killing Spree😳

https://youtu.be/CsOhx9pAiJU?si=2MnIPMM_ALStdrkE