{"id":425631,"date":"2026-05-13T13:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425631\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:11:12","slug":"system-of-a-down-why-there-will-probably-never-be-a-new-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/425631\/","title":{"rendered":"System Of A Down: why there will (probably) never be a new album"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nu metal<\/a>-era giants System Of A Down<\/a> played their first reunion gig 15 years ago this week. Since their return, there\u2019s been a near-constant back-and-forth on whether there\u2019ll make a new album. Hammer looks back at the knotted story of the band\u2019s long-anticipated, and probably non-existent, sixth record.<\/p>\n

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\"A\n<\/p>\n

Picture the scene. It\u2019s November 22, 2005. One of the biggest bands in metal are releasing their fifth studio album: the second part of a pair, with the first having come out six months previously. It receives universally positive reviews and hits the top spot on the US Billboard 200 \u2013 something which is not unusual for its creators.<\/p>\n

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Little did anyone know that that album, Hypnotize, would be the last full-length release by System Of A Down in more than two decades. Six months later they announced a hiatus, five further years passed and, when it was announced that the Armenian-Americans were returning in 2011, we all rejoiced.<\/p>\n

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Since then, there have been shows (both very good and depressingly poor), fallouts, more breakups, some makeups \u2013 plus, most inconsistently, contrasting information regarding work ethic, intentions and desires regarding a much-anticipated new album. A meagre two new songs have been released throughout this entire, tumultuous period.<\/p>\n

So, it begs the question, what happened? Will there, or more importantly should there, ever be another System Of A Down album?<\/p>\n

For the first few years of their reformation, System Of A Down focussed on huge festival sets, like at Download 2011 and Reading And Leeds in 2013. Then there was their 2015 Wake Up The Souls world tour, which featured a show at London\u2019s Wembley Arena and the band\u2019s first-ever performance in their native Armenia.<\/p>\n

The prospect of new material was first publicly discussed in 2016. Speaking to Kerrang! in November of that year, drummer John Dolmayan claimed System Of A Down had at least 12 new songs written. Although he had no timeline for when they would be released, he claimed, \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to accomplish right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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System Of A Down – Hypnotize (Official HD Video) – YouTube
\n\"System<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

It was news that was warmly received by fans: confirmation that there was more to their reunion than just running through the hits.<\/p>\n

The first indication that it might be a bit trickier than first anticipated, however, came in July of 2017. During a live Instagram Q&A, bassist Shavo Odadjian said, \u201cI know, I\u2019m waiting for a new album too,\u201d after being asked when we could expect new material. He deflatingly added, \u201cIt\u2019s not happening. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news was as vague as it was disappointing. But the reason for the delay was made clearer in December 2017, when vocalist Serj Tankian<\/a> was interviewed by Rolling Stone. He discussed his lack of interest in both rock music and the touring lifestyle, and also was coy on the idea of the new album.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve discussed it, and we\u2019ve played each other songs,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we still haven\u2019t come eye-to-eye on how things should be done for us to be able to move forward with it. And that\u2019s where it\u2019s been.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s at this point that a frustrating back-and-forth started, which has continued to take place in the press over years. A member of the band states they would like to do a new album, we get excited, Serj comes out soon after and tells everyone that he isn\u2019t happy with the direction or that things can\u2019t be agreed upon, we put it to the back of our minds. Rinse and repeat for an eight-year period.<\/p>\n

In 2018, guitarist\/vocalist Daron Malakian released the album Dictator with his band Scars On Broadway. He admitted to Rolling Stone, \u201cNot knowing what was happening with System has kept me from putting my own stuff out,\u201d insinuating that the material could have been used for System Of A Down\u2019s comeback. However, Malakian also said of new System Of A Down music, \u201cNo, it\u2019s not abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n

System Of A Down – Genocidal Humanoidz (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"System<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

But still, all we ever heard were roadblocks and reasons for the album to not be made. Dolmayan\u2019s clear frustration seemed to boil over in early 2020 as he was promoting his These Grey Men project (which actually featured Tankian on their cover of David Bowie\u2019s Starman), when he claimed their 2006 hiatus was a \u201cdisaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

In November 2020, we finally did get new System Of A Down material: a pair of songs named Protect The Land and Genocidal Humanoidz<\/a>, released to raise funds for Armenian victims of the second Nagorno-Karabakh War. Hopes were raised, but almost immediately dashed, when Malakian called them a \u201cone-off kinda thing\u201d. Tankian dismissed the idea that this would lead to a new creative period for the band, as they were solely focussed on the war effort.<\/p>\n

Despite this, there is still a desire from a great deal of people for a new System Of A Down album. Even with the delays, the sometimes phoned-in live performances, the bickering, and the vague and confusing reasons for why it hasn\u2019t happened, millions of fans worldwide live in hope. Even as late as January 2023, it\u2019s still a question on people\u2019s lips, Dolmayan claiming then that Tankian hasn\u2019t wanted to be in a band for \u201ca long time\u201d.<\/p>\n

If that all sounds a bit depressing, at least it appears that the band have made peace with their situation. Odadjian told Metal Hammer last year<\/a> that he and his cohorts are getting along better now than they have in quite some time. He also said that the members are still expressing themselves musically, with Malakian having Scars On Broadway, Tankian being a solo artist and him having his alt-metal outfit Seven Hours After Violet. It\u2019s not System Of A Down number six, but it\u2019s not nothing, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeven Hours, that\u2019s my aspiration, because we [in System] haven\u2019t released anything, and I\u2019ve found another outlet,\u201d Odadjian explained. \u201cI want to release as much music as I can with Seven Hours, whenever it\u2019s time. I\u2019ve found a great group of guys who are really talented, and they\u2019re really nice people, which I\u2019m very lucky to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

All rational evidence suggests that Hypnotize will be the final System Of A Down album. So, maybe this circus should stop and we should make peace with these legends being a touring-only prospect. With the band basically having given up on themselves, perhaps we all should accept that this new material will never materialise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nu metal-era giants System Of A Down played their first reunion gig 15 years ago this week. Since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-425631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}