This November will mark 20 years since the release of the last System of a Down album (2005’s Hypnotize). While the chances of a new album haven’t looked promising in recent years, drummer John Dolmayan says there is a very specific way that the band can finally record its first new LP in two decades.
In a new interview on the podcast But That 1% with Sona Oganesyan, Dolmayan discussed the band’s delicate songwriting dynamics and revealed exactly what it would take for SOAD to start working on what would be the highly anticipated follow-up to Hypnotize.
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As Dolmayan explained, it’s mostly a matter of each band member bringing in their respective song ideas in the proper order. Essentially, the band could flesh out less-thought-out songs first, and leave the closer-to-finished material for late in the sessions. He implied that this would require guitarist-singer Daron Malakian allowing lead vocalist Serj Tankian to present his songs first.
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When asked by host Sona Oganesyan about the “secret sauce” to making a SOAD album, Dolmayan explained [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]: “Well, traditionally when we go in to record, Daron would bring his songs in, ’cause he’d have a lot of them. They were very well thought out. They were the most complete. And what I would do, if I was Daron, if I was giving Daron advice, which I’ve actually given him this advice, and I said, ‘Why don’t you just tell Serj, ‘Bring your songs in first. We’ll go through all your ideas.’ And then [bassist] Shavo [Odadjian], you bring in all your ideas. And then Daron, you bring in your ideas last. What’s the difference? But that olive branch says, ‘I care about your songs more than I care about my own, and I’m gonna have you bring in yours first.’”
Dolmayan was less enthusiastic at the suggestion of splitting songwriting duties equally, with the notoriously right-wing drummer comparing it “DEI”: “If it’s not the best, then why are we using it?”
If the drummer had it his way, Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian would bring their ideas to the table in that order — with no limit on how much material each presented or how long it took to work out — under the assumption that Daron’s songs are already “very well thought out” and structured.
“We would do the tours that we already have planned, which we’re going to, and then in 2027 we would block off six months,” Dolmayan said of a hypothetical recording session. “We would go into either Daron’s house, my mouse or Serj’s house or Shavo’s house in a studio that we have in one of those houses, which we all have our spaces, and we would work on a new System album with no rules. And I would say, ‘Serj, bring in all your songs first. Then Shavo, bring in all your riffs and songs next, and then Daron, bring all yours last. And I’ll put absolutely no limit on how many songs you can bring in or timeline of how long that’s gonna take. And then we would go in and make a new record.”
Both Tankian and Malakian have pointed to creative differences, among other issues, as holding up a new SOAD album in past interviews.
As it stands, System of a Down’s only new music since Hypnotize has been the charity singles “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz.” Nonetheless, the band remains active in the live setting, with a run of six headlining North American stadium shows in August and September on the books. Get tickets here.
Watch the full podcast interview with John Dolmayan below.
