Daron Malakian speaks about the possibility of new music with System Of A Down

While the title of this article seems to point in a quite positive direction and a lookout for new music from System Of A Down, I’m afraid that unfortunately this won’t happen, at least not anytime soon. Daron Malakian recently spent more than two hours sitting down with renowned producer Rick Rubin (Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers) to talk about the multi-platinum Armenian-American band’s career and discography, his own musical background, and other topics. Rubin and System Of A Down have a lengthy relationship together. In the late 1990s, Rubin signed the band to his American Recordings label and co-produced all five of the band’s albums with Malakian. Malakian candidly discusses the musical and lyrical influences that helped him write some of the band’s most well-known songs, and there are many in-depth analyses of individual songs to be heard in this conversation.

Korn was doing their thing. Deftones were doing their thing. I guess it’s the scene that people like to call nu metal. I know a lot of people see System Of A Down as nu metal. We don’t really see it that way. I like the word alternative metal, maybe more. I think we’re more little more experimental. We had songs like Spiders, Aerials, ATWA, that had… weren’t necessarily metal influences. They could have been psychedelic influences, and different kinds of rock influences. So bands we played with in LA, you know, some of them got signed: Static-X, Coal Chamber, again, bands that you put into the nu metal. But it just so happens that we were around at the same time and we came in through the same scene as they did. But I never felt like we really sounded like. I like those bands, all the bands I just mentioned, I think are really good bands. But I don’t think we really sounded like them. I feel like we were doing something a little detached.

The discussion also focused on the creative rift that arose with singer Serj Tankian during the composition and recording of “Hypnotize” and “Mezmerize.” During those sessions, Tankian was “emotionally checked out,” as he has acknowledged in public. Later, in 2018, when a verbal sparring match between Tankian and Malakian started to surface in the media, Tankian would openly vent his frustrations. Tankian laid forth his intentions to restructure the group’s backstage operations, both financially and creatively, in a “manifesto” he made public for his fellow musicians. This would enable them to resume creating music together.

It was an interesting time, because, just the dynamic in the band had changed. We all kind of changed. Maybe success had something to do with it. Well, Serj‘s heart wasn’t into it the same way.  I think the way we picked System songs to be on the record, is everyone, we had a list of songs — It was very democratic, to be honest with you. Yeah, well, I can’t tell you which one to pick. I can’t tell John which one to pick, but it just so happens that a lot of the ones that were picked were songs that I brought in. And nothing was ever done… Like no one was trying to hurt anybody. It was just… We were… In my head, I don’t care who wrote what song, I just wanted the best songs, and the songs that worked together and made that album. You know, I just wanted the best for the band, best for the album. And we were just in a weird place where we had a member that was just kind of not along with it, the same way that he was before… I don’t want to say the wrong thing, because you say something, and then all of a sudden it becomes ‘Daron said this’, you know what I mean? I’m trying to be really careful with my words. But I felt pressure, because I was like… it’s very tough time to explain for me.

Fans have been hoping for about 20 years that System of A Down will be able to put aside their disagreements and return to the studio to create a complete body of work, but it still doesn’t appear realistic. However, it appears that Malakian may have changed his mind about the idea and is now more content with the group’s current catalog.

I’m proud of the records. I don’t live with any regret of anything like that. But 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 [“Hypnotize‘/”Mezmerize‘], it doesn’t continue the story to me. 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.

Malakian stated that he has been holding onto this song for a number of years and that a new Scars On Broadway album will be released in 2025. He also disclosed that he has a wealth of musical ideas that he had previously been saving for System of A Down but will probably now be used exclusively for Scars On Broadway.