SYSTEM OF A DOWN and producer Rick Rubin will enter a Los Angeles studio on Monday, February 12 to begin recording one of the most highly-anticipated albums of this year�the follow-up to the group�s self-titled debut album which was released in 1998 on the Sony-distributed American Recordings label.  Fueled by near non-stop touring and the radio hit �Sugar,� �System of a Down� has sold in excess of 850,000 copies worldwide.

System of a Down�Serj Tankian/vocals, Daron Malakian/guitars, Shavo Odadjian/bass, John Dolmayan/drums ­ have been holed up in a rehearsal studio since last October, taking only a short break to play a special benefit show in November to shed more light on the issue of the Armenian Genocide.  The band has been spending five to six hours every night writing and rehearsing some 25 new songs, all of which will be recorded, some of which will make it to the CD�s final track listing.

�We¹re really anxious to get back into the studio,� said guitarist Malakian, �but don¹t expect us to make the same record over again.  The new material is more melodic, but in a powerful, intense way.  The vocal harmonies that Serj and I do are along the lines of Pink Floyd or Radiohead.  But don�t get me wrong,� Malakian cautions, �this will have all the elements of a System of a Down album.�

No one knows yet what songs will end up on the final album, and the songs that the band plan to record still have only working titles.  Nonetheless, the subject matter and lyrical content of the new album will run the gamut from the U.S. prison system (�Prison Song�) to a song about groupies (�Psycho�), to an ode to pajamas (�P.J.s�), to the talking car in the �80s TV show, �Knight Rider� (�K.I.T.T.�).

The new System of a Down CD, as yet untitled, is expected to be released this summer.