Serj Tankian Opens Up About System Of A Down’s Abandoned Writing Sessions: “I Would Say There Is No Album That Is Written”

In a newly published interview originally conducted last September, System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian reflected on the band’s failed attempts to write a new album in the mid-to-late 2010s. Despite maintaining a dedicated fanbase, the band has remained creatively stagnant for nearly two decades. Their last full-length releases date back to 2005, with only two benefit singles in 2020 breaking the silence—raising over half a million dollars for Artsakh/Armenian relief efforts. Since then, no new material has surfaced.

Tensions within the band over new music became public in 2018, as members openly discussed their frustrations. Much of the blame was directed at Tankian, prompting him to release a statement outlining his concerns about creative input, financial arrangements, and the band’s overall direction. While he hoped for changes that would allow them to move forward, his bandmates were not on the same page.

During his recent interview with Sona Oganesyan, Tankian once again shut down speculation of a lost or unfinished System Of A Down album, clarifying that while there were writing sessions, they never resulted in a complete record. He explained how he and guitarist Daron Malakian exchanged music and ideas, but no formal agreement was ever reached. The band attempted rehearsals without Tankian while he was in New Zealand, but only rough recordings from those sessions exist.

Tankian stated:

“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. But at that time I invited Daron over. Many times, we had dinner at my house, and I would have him play me music that he had written and I would make notes about that music and send it to him, and I would send him music. I would play him music that I had written.

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. And they had sent it to me, I was in New Zealand at the time.

They had sent me a recording to listen to. And nothing, like when I say recording, I’m talking about like a tape from a rehearsal studio, you know, not a recording per se. 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.’”

While Tankian expressed last year that if the band were to ever reunite in the studio, he’d prefer to start fresh, this approach doesn’t seem to align with Malakian’s vision. Earlier this year, Malakian admitted that the years of internal conflict over new material have left him unsure if he even wants to pursue another System Of A Down album.

Despite their creative differences, the band is preparing for one of their most extensive touring years in quite some time. See below for their upcoming dates.

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

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