System of a Down’s Serj Tankian to Release Two Albums This Summer + More News

System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian is independently releasing two albums this summer through his Serjical Strike Records. He will drop Orca, his first true symphony, on June 25, and follow it on July 23 with a collaborative jazz-infused album, dubbed Jazz-iz Christ.

Recorded in Linz, Austria in October of 2012, Orca was composed and demoed in Tankian's home studio and fully realized after a successful Kickstarter campaign that helped fund a recording and debut performance at the regal Brucknerhaus with the "Das Karussell Ensemble." With conductor Werner Steinmetz at the helm, the four acts of Orca mix influences from early 20th century composers with modern film compositional dynamics showing influences ranging from Ennio Morricone to Philip Glass. Listeners are met with a mingling of sounds and intertwining pieces that are both serene and bombastic at the same time, offering a fresh interpretation to the classical art.

Jazz-iz Christ is Serj's brainchild, but truly is a collaborative effort between many musicians that Tankian curated to be part of the group and self-titled album. Among others, there are considerable contributions from renowned pianist Tigran Hamasyan, flautist Valeri Tolstov, and trumpet player Tom Duprey. Additional performances from Stewart Copeland (the Police) and actor/musician Davis Alpay and Vincent Pedulla make for a very unique collaboration. The 15 tracks that comprise Jazz-iz Christ, a mostly instrumental effort except for 4 tracks, are an amalgam of progressive jazz, electronic, ethnic and even rock elements, displaying a unique presentation of the genre itself.

Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez has launched The Amory Wars: Fall of the Keywork, a fighting game available now on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The game was developed in conjunction with Southern California's Man Vs. Games and allows fans to travel around "The Keywork" to fight as and against 10 of the most popular characters in the The Amory Wars mythos, including Coheed Kilgannon, Wilhelm Ryan and Al the Killer. Players face-off in a variety of battleground. The game also features a new mechanic for fighting games: The Swipe Button. The feature allows players to focus on execution and timing by moving the button in one of four directions. Get it here.