September 8, 2000 – Members of System of a Down are holed up in a Los Angeles rehearsal studio writing new material for the follow-up to their 1998 self-titled, certified Gold American Recordings debut. The band plans to join label-boss and producer Rick Rubin in the recording studio later this year, and expects the sophomore CD to be released in early 2001.

"I've been writing material for the new record for months now," said guitarist Daron Malakian. "I've been bringing into rehearsals fairly structured songs – melody lines, drum patterns, and then the rest of the band add their parts. We're looking forward to making this record, and appreciate the fact that no one is telling us when it has to come out. That lets us make the best record we can."

In addition to preparing for the next album, the band has also found time to record a track for the just-released Loud Rocks album. With Rubin producing the track, System and Wu-Tang Clan recorded "Shame" from Wu-Tang's 1993 album, Enter the Wu-Tang. Said Malakian, "Recording 'Shame' with Wu-Tang was a cool thing to do, and I'm glad the song came out the way it did. System doesn't really do the 'rap and metal' thing, so this was a chance for us to come across to that audience. We went into the studio with Rick, put different riffs over Wu-Tang's rap, then RZA came in and did some vocal tracks. It all was pretty smooth."