SERJ TANKIAN Is Still Fine With SYSTEM OF A DOWN Moving On Without Him

System Of A Down with out vocalist Serj Tankian would definitely really feel unusual, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a chance.

Tankian not too long ago revealed he offered to quit the band in 2017 so they might transfer on with new music, and is now reiterating that supply in an interview with Metal Hammer. Tankian additionally touched on some fiery feedback made by System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan in 2023, in addition to the immense endurance that’s System Of A Down‘s music.

“John means the world to me,” stated Tankian. “He is my brother-in-law, I like him, and I noticed him simply yesterday, however there are occasions he is bought mad and stated fucking shit. And look, there’s instances I’ve gotten mad and stated fucking shit, too. The choice has all the time been there for the band to maneuver on with out me, and John is aware of that.

“Ultimately, to me System Of A Down is past the band. It is our relationship collectively. And it means extra to me than the band itself, and even the music itself. And that’s exhausting for different individuals, possibly even different individuals within the band, to know. However, as I noticed from the stage at Sick New World [festival in Las Vegas] final yr, the multi-generational attraction of the music we’ve got made is mind-blowing, bro. Our music is extra timeless than we ever imagined, and that’s the hugest praise for any artist.”

In a current interview with CBC Radio One, Tankian opened up about his variations with System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian and the way they’ve resulted in a scarcity of recent materials. For these unaware, System Of A Down hasn’t launched a brand new album since their double efforts of Mezmerize and Hypnotize in 2005. Positive, we bought the 2 singles “Defend the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” in November 2020 to boost funds for Armenia and Artsakh, however these songs had been largely efforts by Malakian.

“Effectively, altering the dynamic is principally years of time and the development of the band, the success of the band, every little thing that occurred in between the day that we met and now, principally, so 25, 30 years,” stated Tankian. So much adjustments in that point. And so I believe that is part of it.

“Daron‘s been a lifer and he is extremely severe about his music and he is extremely protecting of his music and susceptible as a result of his music. All of these issues type of go collectively. So it is these issues, I believe, that created a number of the artistic variations that we began discovering. And it is also our development.

“Hear, when Daron and I began working collectively, I did not actually write a variety of instrumental music — I principally wrote lyrics; I used to be the lyricist; I used to be the singer. And he did not write any lyrics; he simply wrote music. However as time progressed and I performed extra musical devices and I began turning into a songwriter/composer and he began writing extra lyrics, we began type of protecting one another’s territory.

“And I used to be okay with that. If he wrote lyrics, I used to be attempting to encourage him to write down extra, as a result of I consider in creative development. I consider in development. I do not consider in issues staying the identical means, for music’s sake. In any other case the music turns into the identical factor over and over. That development is critical in each artist’s life or in each group’s life.

“So I used to be very encouraging of that. And I simply want that I bought a few of that again. And in order that wasn’t the case, and it was disappointing. And it turned a artistic distinction over the band’s path, and whatnot, over time.”