When Metallica was putting the final touches on their 1999 album S&M, drummer Lars Ulrich overheard a studio engineer playing Systematic’s demo tape. He was so impressed he sought them out and signed them to his own record label The Music Company, with distribution through Elektra Records.

After touring the US with Nothingface in 1999, Systematic recorded their debut album Somewhere In Between under the executive-production of Ulrich himself. Soon after this, drummer Phil Bailey was replaced by Shaun Bannon. The album was released on May 22, 2001, coinciding with the first date of the band’s two-month trek with Ozzfest.

That July, the band opened for Saliva on their US summer tour alongside Stereomud. The album’s lead single “Beginning Of The End” reached #22 on the US Rock Chart. Within its first year, Somewhere In Between sold almost 70,000 copies.

While filming the music video for “Deep Colors Bleed”, Bannon was injured and ex-Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph was recruited for touring, ultimately replacing him completely in March 2002. Around this time, bassist Nick St. Dennis quit to return to playing guitar instead, replaced by Johnny Chow.

Despite Ulrich’s label The Music Company folding that same year, Elektra continued supporting Systematic and recruited Howard Benson (POD, Papa Roach, Theory Of A Deadman) to produce their sophomore album Pleasure To Burn. It was released in April 2003 as the band toured with Saliva, hed(PE), Breaking Benjamin and Stereomud. One of the album’s singles “Leaving Only Scars” peaked at #39 on the US Rock Chart.

The group disbanded in 2004. Frontman Tim Narducci formed Spiralarms. Drummer Paul Bostaph played with Exodus and Testament before returning to Slayer. Bassist Johnny Chow later joined Stone Sour. Systematic did a one-off reunion show in 2011 in honor of the 10th anniversary of Somewhere In Between with Narducci sharing:

So much time has passed, and we’ve all stayed in touch. When the four of us got into a room again to play, the vibe really felt right and we were all excited about doing this.