Image: System Of A Down [Official Press Photo]
Fans of System Of A Down have long been craving new music from the band. Understandably so - after all, the last albums Mezmerize and Hypnotize were released back in 2005, which is now two decades ago. Speculation has been heating up, but Serj Tankian has put an end to it in a recently published interview.
Speaking to Sona Oganesyan in September 2024, Serj Tankian made it very clear that there is no completed SOAD album. It seems the band is still struggling to work together on new music. While there have been meetings, ideas, and even some songwriting, there has been no recording of a full-length album.
In Serj Tankian’s words:
"I would say there is no album that is written. I would say that the band…. So years ago - and this is outlined in the book - but years ago, there was a try of coming to minds with myself and the guys in the band. I tried to come to them with what I call jokingly a manifesto, and saying, 'Listen, if we're going to move forward, let's do things in a more egalitarian fashion. Let's equally split publishing. Let's equally bring in songs' - especially the creators, mostly Daron [Malakian, guitarist/vocalist] and I, Shavo [Odadjian, bassist] as well. And everyone gets a veto on songs, like all these amazing kind of, you know, theoretical, positive, egalitarian terms."
"Apparently it doesn't work in a metal band. You know? The joke is on me. So it didn't work."
"And so at one point, we had a band meeting - a very long one - and we didn't come to terms on stuff, but the guys wanted to work on some of those songs. I was in New Zealand. And so they started working in a rehearsal studio on some of those songs, which included Daron's songs and a few of mine, if I'm not mistaken. Nothing was recorded. [...]"
"Um, I would say that 'Genocidal Humanoidz' was probably one of them, if I'm not mistaken. I don't remember if 'Protect The Land' was one of them. I don't remember maybe, probably not, I would say."
"But you know, some of those, a lot of those are Daron songs, and some of them he may have released recently [via Scars On Broadway,] and some of those are my songs which I released, probably on 'Elasticity'. So that's the story. I mean, there is no 'record.'"
Elasticity is one of Serj Tankian’s many solo EPs, released in 2021. But can we expect any new System Of A Down songs in the near future? At this point, it seems unlikely.
You can listen to the full interview on Spotify here:
