Following a few months of teasing, System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian has officially unveiled his new Seven Hours After Violet project. Featuring members of Left to Suffer, Winds of Plague and more, S.H.A.V. have just offered up debut single “Paradise” along with its psychedelic music video.
A press release explains that the band have been prepping a full-length to be released through Odadjian’s new 1336 Records, an imprint of Sumerian Records. “Paradise” presents Odadjian working alongside vocalist Taylor Barber (Left to Suffer), guitarists Morgoth (Winds of Plague) and Alejandro Aranda (Scarypoolparty, American Idol) and drummer Josh Johnson (Winds of Plague).
The bandleader said that the song — which will kickoff the impending LP — is a “perfect introduction to Seven Hours After Violet,” which he says arose out of the desire to “do something super heavy, but melodic” in order to “come back to my roots.”
“Until this band, every side project I’ve done has been outside of the walls of heavy music,” Odadjian continued, referencing such earlier side projects as AcHoZeN, which paired him with Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA..
“I steered away from anything heavy because System of a Down is heavy. Once I got 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 favorite thing I’ve done since System and I can’t wait for the world to hear it”
Up above, you can check out the band’s video for “Paradise,” which was co-directed by Odadjian and Adam Mason.
As previously reported, S.H.A.V. will make their live debut this fall at the returning Mayhem Festival, which takes place October 12th at San Bernadino, California’s Glen Helen Amphitheater.