In the two decades that have passed since the 2005 release of System Of A Down‘s 1-2 punch of “Mezmerize” and “Hynpotize“, there has been very few glimmers of hope of a proper return to the studio. Back in 2018, the multi-platinum Armenian-American nü-metallers shocked their fans with a pair of ‘new’ singles, which helped raise over a half a million dollars for the Artsakh/Armenian people affected by the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Neither of those songs were entirely new creations however, with one stemming from the failed writing sessions the band set out upon in the mid to late 2010s, while another was an idea guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian had been bouncing around for a potential release via his Scars On Broadway project.
The creative differences in the band are tiringly well-documented at this point. At the root of the dispute is vocalist Serj Tankian‘s desires for more egalitarian ideals in regards to creative input and financial splits. However, his ideas weren’t readily welcomed by his bandmates, leading to the ongoing impasse.
It would seem that a lesser factor behind the scenes is the influence of politics and the differing belief systems members of the band share. Vocalist Serj Tankian, has long been an outspoken political and justice activist, with his ideals generally skewing towards more liberal endeavors.
His brother-in-law, drummer John Dolmayan, however has embraced a more conservative approach, proudly backing U.S. President Donald Trump for many years now. Encouragingly, in these radicalized times, it’s an ideological divide that the pair have managed to get past, but has apparently still remained a source of at least some minor friction over the years.
While System Of A Down have managed to maintain a modest live schedule, their inability to get on the same page to write and record new music seems insurmountable. The attrition of sorts established by the behind-the-scenes conflict of ideals has already worn down the group’s primary songwriter, guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian.
In an interview with System Of A Down‘s producer of choice (and record label advocate) Rick Rubin that was published earlier this year, Malakian told Rubin the following in regards to the band ever starting a “new story” in the studio:
“There was a time that that might have been something I wanted. I’m not sure how much I want that anymore — I’m sure people won’t be too happy to hear that from me. I’m not at the same place I was maybe 10 years ago.”
It would appear that Dolmayan too would rather preserve what the band have now, than risk the any potential new fractures. Speaking last month with Lilian Tahmasian, Dolmayan first revealed his admiration for producer Rick Rubin who also initially got the band signed. He stated, “If we ever make a [System Of A Down] record, if Rick‘s not there, I’m not there.”
However, when asked if he ever actually sees the band coming back together again in the studio, Dolmayan echoed Malakian‘s sentiments, responding:
“No. I don’t know if I want it at this point. There’s just too much drama involved. And I like going out and having a good time with my friends and playing shows, and I don’t want that to disappear. There would have to be very strict guidelines for me to make another record with System again.”
When subsequently asked if conflicting political views in the band had caused issues, Dolmayan replied:
“Yeah, we had problems with that because Serj is very outspoken. He has one way of thinking, some things we agree with – the rest of the band – and some things we don’t. Some things we’re exactly on par with. My belief system is a little different and I’ll get into that with you in a little bit. But, with Serj, we don’t want that to be the only thing, because we don’t feel like that’s the only element of System Of A Down. It’s a big part of the band.
Justice is a big part of the band. Justice has no politics. It’s either just or unjust. It has no political affiliation. It either is or it isn’t. But there’s a lot of things that come into play, morality. So we just didn’t want it to be the only focal point, and that was… Serj spent a lot of time talking about political stuff on stage.
Now, I personally love it. The more crazy he got and into it… I believe anything that’s passionately displayed is worth listening to, even if I completely disagree with it. If you’re really passionate about it, I want to know what you think. So I like that part of it, but the rest of the band and me too felt like it was just too much of our focus.
We don’t just sing about, you know lyrically, politics. We sing about love, death, hate, stupid things, inane things, artistic things, insane things. It’s all these things that make System Of A Down so unique. We didn’t want the focal point to be politics, but that’s kinda what Serj wanted to talk about at the time. So, we’re in a weird situation where I don’t want to limit what he has to say, but I don’t want to limit what people think of me either.”
Dolmayan also further expounded upon his own political beliefs in that interview, you can read that at length in this past story. Dolmayan‘s reluctance to open the can of worms associated with creating new music is assuredly a financially sound decision. Even with the lack of any large body of new material in decades, the group’s limited live shows remain entirely lucrative. Back in 2024, Tankian admitted as much, while also expressed his disinterest with the grind of excessive touring. He told Rolling Stone at the time:
“Even when the band was making new music, I didn’t find the life cycle of a major-label artist particularly satisfying. We’d typically spend six months writing, six months recording, and then two to three years touring and promoting. That means that two-thirds to three-quarters of your time as a signed artist is spent doing things that didn’t feel very artistically fulfilling or creative.
The obvious riposte to all this is that if you’re successful, you get paid quite well for your trouble. System is lucky enough to make royalties from selling music, and that income is reasonably consistent. If you outspend that income, you can always refill the coffers with big checks from touring. Playing live can become a bit like visiting the world’s most generous ATM.
But remember: I’d never wanted to be someone who made decisions because of money. I recognize it’s a tremendous privilege to be in a position to not have to do exactly that, but I can’t ignore the fact that not making decisions based on money was what had led me to that privilege in the first place.
As it happened, I was pretty good at staying within my budget anyway, so the financial lure of touring was never going to outweigh all the negatives. With music, I’ve never made compromises and it’s always worked out, so why start now?”
Tankian, who has made significant strides from a back injury that also lessened his enjoyment of spending large chunks of time on the road in recent years, has seemingly warmed up to the idea of playing more shows however, with 2025 representing their most ambitious slate of live concerts since 2017. Those shows will commence later this month and will find the band playing the following cities:
04/24 Bogota, COL – Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campin
04/27 Lima, PER – Estadio Nacional
04/30 Santiago, CHL – Parque Estadio Nacional
05/03 Buenos Aires, ARG – Estadio Jose Amalfitani
05/06 Curitiba, BRA – Estadio Couto Pereira
05/08 Rio de Janeiro, BRA – Estadion Nilton Santos
05/10 Sao Paulo, BRA – Allianz Parque
05/11 Sao Paulo, BRA – Allianz Parque
05/14 Sao Paulo, BRA – Autodromo Interlagos
With Korn, Polyphia & Wisp:
08/27 New York City, NY – Metlife Stadium
08/28 New York City, NY – Metlife Stadium
With Avenged Sevenfold, Polyphia & Wisp:
08/31 Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
09/01 Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
With Deftones, Polyphia & Wisp:
09/03 Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
09/05 Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
