System Of A Down‘s Daron Malakian has opened up about a new album from the band, saying, “I’m not sure how much I want that anymore”.
The legendary metal band’s last albums were their two 2005 full-lengths ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’. Though there has been no final word on if the band have a new album in the works, frontman Serj Tankian previously shared that a new System record would be a “fresh start in a brand new way”.
Now, in a new interview with Rick Rubin, Malakian – System Of A Down’s guitarist/vocalist/songwriter – has opened up about the possibility of a new album from the quintet and how he’s actually not really a fan of the prospect.
Speaking to Rubin, who produced the two albums alongside Malakian 20 years ago, Malakian said: “It would have been nice to see where the band would have evolved if we kept putting music out. If we put out an album now, it’s just so far away from [‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’] it doesn’t continue the story to me.”
He continued, adding that starting a “new story” with the band “might have been something I wanted” in the past, but now, “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.”
Malakian’s comments come after his bandmate, bassist Shavo Odadjian, also shared his views on a new System album.
“We always will talk about it here and there, but I don’t know if this will happen or not. I mean, if it does, beautiful. But if it does, it needs to be amazing,” he said while appearing on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk (via Blabbermouth).
It can’t just be us riffing. ‘Cause we’ve got a lot to live up to, bro. It’s a little nerve racking, a part of it. 20 years [ago], the last thing we did, won a Grammy. It needs to really be the greatest it could be. And I’m not saying it can’t be or we’re not up to it — we are.”
Odadjian went on add: “I can’t promise. We haven’t said anything. Like I said, man, there is no pressure. We said, ‘Let’s get together. Let’s play these shows, see how it goes.’ We haven’t done this many shows… Literally, we’re doing more shows this year than we have the last seven years combined. So, let’s do that first and see where that takes us.”
Last year, Tankian recalled his time working on the last two System Of A Down albums and said that he “emotionally checked out” during the recording process.
In an interview with Metal Hammer, the frontman said: “I had a very unique relationship with the last few records because I had, to a certain degree, emotionally checked out of the band while making them.
“Because of the push and pull, I became very passive. There was music I wanted to bring in that I felt like I couldn’t… I was in a weird place. I contributed creatively, but I didn’t… I don’t know. I needed oxygen – I felt like there was too much going on.”
He continued: “I still think those songs are great. But when I think back on it, I also remember that it was a weird phase of my life, and that’s something I have to be aware of as well.”
However, in an interview with The Sun, Tankian said if they ever do take the plunge on a new full-length, it will not be a decision taken lightly. “I would say if System ever decided to make a record, it would be a fresh start in a brand new way, in a beautiful new direction,” he said.
When asked about whether there is a group of unreleased songs in the archive, he added: “We do have some unreleased material from the past that’s set. I forgot how many songs there are, but it’s a handful of them that would be interesting also in an archival capacity because I think some of them are some really amazing gems.”
Speaking to NME in 2021, frontman Serj Tankian revealed that the group had begun work on a follow-up to ‘Hypnotize’ but added they couldn’t see eye to eye on “how to philosophically move forward” so the whole thing was called off. Instead, those songs featured on Tankian’s ‘Elasticity’ EP.
Elsewhere, System Of A Down recently announced their longest stretch of tour dates in years as they take over South America in April and May, and North America in August and September. The dates – all of which are sold out – will mark the first time since 2017 that the band are performing back-to-back shows for an extended period of time, having only played one or two shows a year in recent times.
Speaking to SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk recently per The PRP, Odadjian shared that the tours will serve as a way for the band to see if they can return to a regular touring schedule: “We haven’t played a lot together for a while. We’ve been doing one or two shows a year since 2017. So, the relationships were not as great as they are now. It’s just everybody wasn’t on the same page. We’ve been talking. Everything’s great, knock on wood. Everyone’s happy. So we decided to test the waters and play some shows. And that’s what it is.”
Odadjian continued: “There is no strategy to it, there’s no plan to do the rest of the world just yet. I’m not saying it’s not gonna happen; I’m not saying it is gonna happen. We told each other, ‘Let’s play it by ear, do these shows, see how we feel afterwards. If we don’t wanna do any more, we don’t do any more. If we wanna do more, we’ll do more.’ There’s no heavy responsibility on anyone, because I feel like a lot of it is just thinking too much, overthinking what could happen… So we decided, ‘Let’s test the waters. Let’s not just go full blast and start doing months. Let’s just test the waters with three shows.’ Those three shows turned to six.”
In other news, Tankian recently opened up about the time System Of A Down were “pelted with coins” by fans who were “raising Nazi salutes”.
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