JOHN DOLMAYAN Explains How The Iconic Drum Beat In SYSTEM OF A DOWN's "Toxicity" Was Born Out Of Frustration

System of a Down may not have released new material in years, but their music continues to captivate audiences. Their catalog remains a masterclass in defying conventional songwriting norms, both lyrically and musically. The band's unique creative process played a key role in shaping their sound, and drummer John Dolmayan recently offered insight into how their songs came to life.

In an interview with Lilian Tahmasian (via Ultimate Guitar), Dolmayan described the pressure he felt when shaping a song that a band member brought in. He explained: "Sure, there's a lot of those moments, but to think about it, there's a lot of pressure on me when the songs come in. Okay, so let's say Daron writes a song. Sometimes, it's years before he brings it to us. At the very least, I don't think there's anything he brought into System that was less than six months."

"So he's had all this time to think about what it's going to sound like and all these things, and then pretty much nothing happens until I put drums on it. And if I don't like the drums, it's very unlikely that song's going to end up on an album."

"He'll play me the song. It'll be, well, the way we used to do. We haven't made a record in a long time – but Daron would be in front of me, and then Shavo and Serj on one side, and he would play us the song, and we'd just listen. I'd be sitting on my drum set while he's playing the song."

According to Dolmayan, his approach to drumming was far from impulsive. Instead of going with his first instinct, he intentionally discarded initial ideas, believing that if they came too easily, they were likely too predictable.

"Almost immediately, the first things that come to mind, I would throw away. Because if it's the first thing that comes to my mind, it might be the first thing that comes to somebody else's mind, and I don't want my drumming to sound like that."

"So then I would be like, 'Okay, I'm not going to do that, because that's the first thing and the easiest thing, I'm not going to take the easy path.' Then I'd be like, 'Well, what doesn't fit? How do I make it fit? Can it fit?' And that's kind of how we did it."

But sometimes, genius struck in unexpected ways. Dolmayan recounted how the now-iconic drumbeat for "Toxicity" came about—not through meticulous planning, but through sheer frustration.

"Sometimes the guys would have ideas like, for example, 'Toxicity', which is a song initially brought in by Shavo, and then Daron had another part to another song, and they kind of went home, put them together, and like, two months later they brought it back. I was trying to figure out a beat for it because it was better. It felt like it had something."

"I couldn't think of anything. And then Shavo was like, 'Well, why don't you do this?' I was like, 'Shavo, let me go through my process here.' But he kept irritating me. So I was like, 'Whoa! Like this!?' And then that was the beat. He goes, 'Yeah, like that,' and that was the beat. It came out of nowhere."

What started as an offhand response to an annoying suggestion ended up becoming one of the most recognizable drum parts of the band's career.

"I didn't even think about it, I just did something because he was irritating me and I was mimicking him. I don't even think he wanted that. He later said, 'Yeah, that's what I meant.' Sure, it's what you meant. But it can come from nowhere. But that's it, that's the song now, and I would say that's what I'm most highly regarded for, the beat for that song, which was completely a mistake."