[citation needed] Tankian has described the album as "the most up-tempo punk rock oriented record that I've written probably since the System days."

The act involves self-disembowelment with a tantō (a Japanese-style dagger originating in the Heian period), slicing the abdomen from left to right.

Harakiri differs from previous releases as three songs featured in it were initially sketched out on Tankian's iPad.

The video features Tankian and members of the public protesting, while businessmen celebrate a bailout.

The video includes quotes from Jean-Paul Sartre and Ralph Waldo Emerson alongside statements on animal suicide, GM crops and obesity, among other issues.