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There is some contention over the band's genre. They have been labeled as nu metal, which may be attributed[attribution needed] to their first album being released during the nu metal boom of the mid-to-late 90s, though they had been making music and touring before most nu metal. Columbia Records, which distributes producer Rick Rubin's American Recordings, had a part in casting the band as nu metal.[16] Brad Tolinski of Guitar World said, "These guys were grouped in with bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, and they were able to sneak in under the wire because of those affiliations, even though they didn't sound like them... And when nu-metal got cleared away, System of a Down was still standing... They were clearly able to create their own identity and unique sound."[16]
Guitarist Daron Malakian has said in a Guitar World interview that he is glad System of a Down has not slipped into the nu metal genre. During a 2005 concert, he announced, "They used to call us nü-metal, now they call us prog rock. I think they'll call us anything that's popular."[citation needed]
In a 2005 interview with the Houston Press, Malakian said, “Lately, we've been doing interviews, and people have been like, 'You guys are really leading the way for the new prog movement,' and I'm like, 'What?' ...It's just kind of aggravating that people always have to have something to compare us to, or bunch us up with. I'm not saying we're the most original band in the world, but I don't really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal category or a pure rock category. There's a lot of stuff mixed up into one.”[citation needed]
Against comparisons to Rage Against the Machine, Tankian said, "Yeah, we have some political songs, but we have more that are about love and life and sex and pogo-stick orgies and all that."[16]
Malakian said, "We don't belong to any one scene."[17] System has also been described as a mixture of aggro punk, classic metal, Frank Zappa,[7] goth, and Armenian.[7]
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