For years, fans of System of a Down have held onto hope that the band would return to the studio and release new material. After all, they still tour and perform together. But behind the scenes, things are far less harmonious than their stage presence suggests.
In a recent conversation with Lilian Tahmasian, drummer John Dolmayan offered some candid insight into the band’s internal dynamics. When asked whether he thought the band would record again, his answer (via Ultimate Guitar) was blunt: “I don’t know if I want it at this point. There’s just too much drama involved. And I like going out and having a good time with my friends and playing shows, and I don’t want that to disappear. There would have to be very strict guidelines for me to make another record with System again.”
Dolmayan‘s hesitation reflects more than just personal fatigue. It underscores deeper philosophical differences within the group — particularly between him and vocalist Serj Tankian.
“We had problems with that because Serj is very outspoken. He has one way of thinking, some things we agree with — the rest of the band — and some things we don’t. Some things we’re exactly on par with. With Serj — we don’t want that to be the only thing because we don’t feel like that’s the only element of System of a Down. It’s a big part of the band.”
That “thing” he’s referring to is politics. According to Dolmayan, Tankian‘s political commentary — especially during live shows — has overshadowed the band’s broader artistic identity.
“Justice is a big part of the band. Justice has no politics. It’s either just or unjust. It has no political affiliation. It either is or it isn’t. But there’s a lot of things that come into play, like morality, so we just didn’t want it to be the only focal point, and that was… Serj spent a lot of time talking about political stuff on stage.”
This isn’t to say Dolmayan lacks appreciation for Tankian‘s convictions. In fact, he went out of his way to express admiration for his bandmate’s intensity — even when it didn’t align with his own views.
“Now, I personally love it. The more crazy he got and into it…I believe anything that’s passionately displayed is worth listening to, even if I completely disagree with it. If you’re really passionate about it, I want to know what you think. So I like that part of it, but the rest of the band and I too felt like it was just too much of our focus.”
Ultimately, Dolmayan sees System of a Down as a band with a much wider emotional and thematic range than what their political moments might suggest.
“We don’t just sing about politics. We sing about love, death, hate, stupid things, inane things, artistic things, insane things. It’s all these things that make System of a Down so unique. We didn’t want the focal point to be politics, but that’s what Serj wanted to talk about at the time. We’re in a weird situation where I don’t want to limit what he has to say, but I don’t want to limit what people think of me either.”
Source: metalinjection.net
