SYSTEM OF A DOWN Bassist Discusses ACHOZEN Project

SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian recently spoke to the Artisan New Service about ACHOZEN, his collaboration with WU-TANG CLAN founder The RZA. Shavo and The RZA plan to have ACHOZEN's debut album finished by the end of January but have not yet set a release date for the concept record as they decide what the best way to distribute the set will be.

In addition to Odadjian and The RZA, ACHOZEN features Kinetic 9 (a.k.a. Beretta 9 from KILLARMY),and up-and-comer, the Reverend William Burke from Chicago.

ACHOZEN's mantra is "Many shall come, only a few shall be ACHOZEN," and the four principal members feel that their unique sound is not only spiritual in nature, but a new genre of "heavy hip hop," not "rap-metal." There are no heavy guitars on the album, but the sound is genre-blending.

Most of the ACHOZEN album was recorded at one of Shavo's two studios and produced by the Grammy-winning musician. The bulk the beats were created by Shavo (only one or two samples were used on the entire record) who also played live instruments throughout, including bass and sitar. The RZA, who contributed his share of beats, Kinetic 9 and the Reverend William Burke handle all of the vocals and lyrics, which are, according to Shavo, "some of the most innovative, poetic and righteous words and vocals that I've ever heard."

"We have a product that I can go and see if I want to do this independently or if I want to go through major distribution," Shavo told the Artisan News Service. "I'm not exactly sure if people are going to get the concept. It's a hip hop concept record and right now I don't know if the radio is ready for it. But I really am not releasing this. You know, me and RZA, we just said it in a lot of interviews we want to help people with this. We just want to exercise brains, we really want to help kids think. It's a very positive record. It's a positive outlook on life instead of the usual negative."

He continued, "This isn't a commercial hip hop record, you know what I mean? It's got stories and it's an adventure. It's a musical experience. It's a lot to take in. I don't expect everyone to hear it and go, 'Oh, I get it.' No, no, no. Each song is different on another tip. We recorded it in a room, without a vocal booth. I mean, this is such a from the heart record. Everyone that came in and did anything just, you know, did it from their heart. I got John Frusciante from the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS to play on a track. He played guitar and ripped it up. Just a couple of takes and a couple of comps and boom."

Watch video footage of Shavo Odadjian talking to the Artisan New Service about ACHOZEN at this location.