October 18, 2003 10:30

AMEN TO SOAD!

Guitarist Daron Malakian is releaseing the band's new album on his new label...

System Of A Down guitarist DARON MALAKIAN has spoken out about the lifeline he threw to Amen.

Malakian is releasing the band’s new album, ‘Death Before Musick’ on his own label EatUrMusic, an imprint of Columbia.

After the collapse of their previous label, the band seemed adrift and seemed in danger of splitting. Now, Malakian has told MTV about his admiration for the band.

"The band has had some tough luck, That's the only reason Amen hasn't gotten as big as they should be. There was this whole misconception that they were a nu-metal band, which they're not. They're very rock and roll. Then they had problems with their label falling apart, so they never got the chance to tour properly, and they haven't had a single out."

Of the new record, he said: "It's an album's worth of gems. I can't wait for people to hear them because I think they'll love 'em. It was such a shame to me to hear these songs were just going to be thrown away. I was thinking, 'What is (singer) Casey (Chaos) going to do now? Work as a car dealer? I've got to step in and try to help him out’."

‘Death Before Musick’ is scheduled for a release in March.