Photo by Max Maguire

Even prior to debuting any music, the passion project from System Of A Down bassist Shavo Odadjian had already earned buzz - having recently been confirmed for the stacked line-up of the resurrected Mayhem Festival later this year. 

The collective is comprised of Taylor Barber of Left To Suffer, along with acclaimed producer and Winds of Plague guitarist Morgoth, Alejandro Aranda and Josh Johnson, also previously in Winds of Plague. With Shavo at the helm, the band have now unveiled their introductory single, "Paradise". 

Odadjian spoke on the significance of the single and how creatively, the track marks a watershed moment in his accomplished career. "The song opens the album and showcases the various dynamics we explore throughout which makes it the perfect introduction to Seven Hours After Violet."

Odadjian further shares, “I’ve been making music for over 30 years, I wanted to do something super heavy, but melodic and come back to my roots. Until this band, every side project I've done has been outside of the walls of heavy music. I steered away from anything heavy because System Of A Down is heavy. Once I got I started with Seven Hours After Violet, I had to let go of that. I said, 'let me go with my gut and do what I'm best at'.

"For the first time ever in my career, I just said, 'as long as I love it, I don't give a fuck what anybody else thinks' and that was extremely liberating. Seven Hours After Violet is the result. It’s my favourite thing I’ve done since System and I can’t wait for the world to hear it”

Along with the drop of the band's dynamic debut, Seven Hours After Violet serve as the first artist under the 1336 imprint - a joint venture launched in partnership with Sumerian Records. Shavo spoke about the bigger endeavor of not only launching his new creative project, but the business of now spearheading a label. “I didn't just want to sign the band to a label, which is why we signed the deal with Ash Avildsen and Sumerian. I now have my new imprint called 1336 Records. It gives me a lot of creative control and also the ability to bring other acts that I find interesting on board later in the future, so I’m really excited about that.”

The founder and CEO of Sumerian Music Group Ash Avildsen weighed in on establishing an imprint with Shavo and spoke auspiciously about the future of the joint effort. 

"System of a Down is one of the most important and influential bands of my generation, as well as one of my all time favorites. When I first heard Shavo was putting together a group of young cutting edge musicians around him to form a new band, I immediately got excited just as a fan to hear what it was. After a first listen of Seven Hours After Violet and seeing who the metal group of Avengers he assembled around him to play in it, I knew it had to be on Sumerian. So I pursued it hard and after one epic lunch together at the Sunset Marquis, Shavo and I were creative business partners ready to unleash the next great thing in heavy music together. I am humbled and honored he has chosen to team up with Sumerian to launch Seven Hours After Violet and 1336."

Seven Hours After Violet are set to perform at the 2024 return of Mayhem Festival along with Bad Omens, Parkway Drive, Architects, Jinjer and many more. Get tickets and info - HERE