2002 - Storaged Melodies

With no official release date other than the year 2002, a group of System Of A Down fans online created an unofficial B-side album called "Storaged Melodies". It contains a whopping 17 songs that are not on any studio release, including outtakes, several covers and also a few songs by other artists that feature System members. Let's check out some B-side System!

The first song is called "Storaged" and it's only just over a minute long. It alternates between a couple really slow notes and Serj Tankian singing slowly to match, and firing into a heavy, fast and very loud riff with Serj yelling quickly to keep up. The dramatic shifts between slow and quiet work really nicely and while I can see why this was a B-side, I think it's a pretty cool one at just 1:21. Up next is "Marmalade" and Daron Malakian leads the way with a really catchy and cool main guitar riff that's got my head boppin'! Serj sings a catchy verse that fits the mood perfectly and I love all his crazy ups and downs he does! After a couple cool rounds Dsron sets the stage for himself really nicely, then follows with a pretty cool guitar solo. They wrap it up with a solid final verse and chorus and this easily could've made the first album I thought! Track 3 is the first cover titled "The Metro", a cover of a new wave band I've never heard of called Berlin. I have no idea what the original sounds like, but SOAD's version is excellent! John Dolmayan plays a slow, catchy drum beat, Shavo Odadjian joins in with a really cool bass riff, then Daron adds some catchy and cool lead guitar overtop. Serj sings a quiet but epic verse, then things really ramp up for the chorus! The speed increases by a lot as the guitars, bass and drums all pick up dramatically and Serj sings a loud and catchy chorus overtop that nicely does down and morphs back into the slow verse. After another solid round Daron plays a really catchy guitar solo, all while Serj rambles in the background and also holds one long, super low scream that sounds phenomenal. After a final chorus they speed things up even more for a fantastic finish to a pretty sweet cover! The next track is "Snowblind", and it's a Black Sabbath cover! You wouldn't know it by the music, because System's version is about twenty times faster than the super slow (but still very cool) original, but the lyrics are definitely "Snowblind", just with Serj delivering them way quicker than Ozzy sings. Daron's main guitar riff sounds really cool and I love that they are covering the legends that are Black Sabbath, but still very much making things their own. They speed through a couple rounds nicely, then they slow things right down, Daron plays a quiet yet distorted guitar riff and Serj sings a really good slow verse overtop, then Shavo's dirty bass sets the stage for the nice breakdown that is the only part similar to the original, but probably even heavier! Then they speed things right up again for a couple more verses, before clos9ng it out with the quiet part once again as things slowly fade away. I loved this cover too, really well done! Track 5 is "Johnny" and it's a bit of a joke song with Daron playing a very quirky and interesting guitar riff to lead the way, and Dolmayan playing some cool drums. It's difficult to describe and very unique and off-beat, I like it! Serj uses a weird joke voice in the verse that sounds pretty funny, but then they slam suddenly into a heavy, more typical System riff for the chorus and with Serj nicely yelling overtop things sound pretty sweet, then they drop right off for another quirky verse. Daron's quirky guitar solo sounds pretty cool as well, and so does Shavo's bass backing it! For a song just over two minutes, and a joke song at that, I thought this was pretty cool! Up next is "Will They Die For You?", which features rappers Ma$e (who I've never heard of) and Lil Kim. Ma$e is the lead vocalist on this song with Serj just doing backing vocals in the chorus. I'm not a fan of most of the rapping, but the music is still System with Daron playing some cool guitar and Shavo adding some nice heavy bass. The lyrics are littered with n-words and the straight rap just isn't my thing. Lil Kim raps one verse towards the end and I actually like hers better than this Ma$e guy, but once again it's the music that is the draw. Trsck 7 is "Feel Good" and it's actually by a different nu-metal band called Hed PE (never heard of them), but it features Serj singing the chorus. Hed PE mix gangsta rap verses with heavier choruses and like the last song I'm not a huge fan of the rapping parts, but some of the lyrics on this one are kinda funny. Serj sounds good as usual singing a slightly pop-y chorus that's pretty simple and things sound pretty catchy as they move into another fast, rapping verse. I do like the lines "I like that shit. Now roll and light that shit, and get on with this shit", and while this is mostly not a SOAD song at all, it's decent for a rap song and Serj's chorus is catchy and solid. The next track is a duet of sorts between System and the iconic hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, covering their song "Shame". The chorus is mostly the line "shame on a n*gga who tries to run game on a n*gga", and it's not my favourite chorus by any means, but at least it's overtop a nice heavy riff. Wu-Tang performs about half of the vocals and it's the same boat for me with the rapping, but once again it's the music that's the draw for me, and Serj's rapping parts actually sound pretty cool! This is quite the interesting mash-up! Track 9 is "Starlit Eyes", a cover of another nu-metal band called Snot, and this song sounds much more like a typical SOAD song with Daron leading the way with a cool guitar riff and Serj yelling nicely overtop. He goes low at times, really high at others and also does some good singing for a little bit of everything. The chorus is quite smooth and catchy and they segue really nicely back into the verse. After another solid go through they jam out one final chorus then nicely tie things up at the end. Up next is "Mushroom Cult", a song by another band I've never heard of called Dog Fashion Disco, featuring Serj Tankian. It's got a loud and heavy main riff that has a cool psychedelic overtone to it that has you dreamily headbanging somehow. The main singer's parts are okay but nothing too special, but of course Serj's parts sound pretty good and the music is pretty cool. It's an interesting style of metal this band plays that I do find appealing and if Serj were the singer all the time it would ve quite interesting, but I'm not a fan of the main singer. Track 11 is "Patterns", a cover of a Tony Iommi song! I don't know how heavy the original is, but this version is super chugginv and heavy and it sounds great! Serj sounds great holding some long notes overtop and the music sounds very Iommi: slow and super heavy and cool! A pretty sweet song! The next track is "Don't Go Off Wandering", which is actually by Limp Bizkit and just features Serj once again. I'm not a Limp Bizkit fan at all, mostly because I don't like their lead singer Fred Durst. The music is okay but nothing too special, but Durst's vocals just sound like a whiny little white kid and it irritates me. Serj's part sounds decent, but it's just one verse and I'm not a huge fan of the rest of the song. The last five tracks are all original System songs, but they're all demos and so the production quality isn't very good. Track 13 is "Friik" and Daron leads the way with another quirky yet cool main guitar riff as Serj sings really quickly overtop and Dolmayan plays some great fast drums. I can see why this one was left as a B-side as it's very unpolished, but I think it's still a solid tune even if it's a little repetitive. Up next is "Blue" and Shavo plays a cool slow bass riff to keep the pace while Daron plays some creepy and cool guitar overtop. Serj sings a slow, melodic verse that sounds quietly epic, then they slam nicely into a heavy chorus with some much heavier guitars and Serj yelling loudly and nicely. The contrast between the verse and chorus is really well done and this is one i' surprised was left as a B-side, it easily could've made either of their first albums, and that's a high bar! I thought it was really well done and easily the best of these demos. Track 15 is "Dam" and Daron plays a repetitive and very distorted guitar riff for the whole song. Serj's vocals are also super distorted, to the point where you can't hear what he's singing, but it fits this psychedelic mood. Nothing really jumps out, you just trippily drift your way through until the end. The next track is "Honey" and Dolmayan starts us off with a fast drum beat that Daron and Shavo nicely build around for a pretty typically cool main riff. Serj sings a good verse and then let's loose a couple nice high screams in a cool chorus as well. Daron plays a short but pretty cool guitar solo and then sets the stage for a nice fast-paced new part that is upbeat and pretty catchy! They finish strong with a final verse and chorus and I liked this one a lot too, even their B-sides are A-OK! The final song on this unofficial album is "Temper" and Shavo starts us off with a slow, catchy bass riff and Dolmayan adds a nice catchy drum beat. Daron completes the riff with some perfectly matching slow guitar and Serj then sings a solid slow verse overtop. The chorus is the complete opposite: it's lighting fast, incredibly heavy and Serj holds such a fantastic long growl to close it out. Ince again the contrast is what makes this an especially cool song as they slowly make their way through the catchy verse, then unleash the devastating chorus. A pretty sweet way to finish things off!

That is the end of "Storaged Melodies" and I thought it was a pretty cool B-side album! It's nowhere close to either of their spectacular studio albums, but there are definitely some hidden gems on here and I'm certainly glad that someone compiled all these songs into an unofficial album. I can't wait for more studio System soon!