System Of A Down: “As long as we’re on the same page, we can continue”

Serj Tankian has addressed the future of System Of A Down, saying that the band “can continue, if we’re on the same page”.

Back in November, the Californa outfit shared their first new songs in 15 years with ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’, which were released to raise awareness of the ongoing conflict in Artsakh.

In a recent video interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, the SOAD frontman looked back on the experience of creating the tracks and hinted at what’s on the horizon for the group.

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“Obviously, we have songs that are not necessarily socio-political and are fun and all sorts of stuff. I think when we have done this, we’ve done it really well,” Tankian explained.

“This time, it’s exceptional in that sense, not to praise us or anything like that. The fact that we used it exactly, we used it as a weapon, unapologetically, and that’s what it should’ve been.”

The musician went on to say he’s “really proud” of System’s recent material, adding that “it felt really great” for them to be working together once again.

“The future is unseen,” he said. “We will see what happens. The vibe is very positive. As long as we’re on the same page, we can continue doing stuff, if we’re on the same page.”

Addressing the widely-reported creative differences within System Of A Down, Tankian explained that “when it comes to the actual creation part, it’s not personal… it’s philosophical”.

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System Of A Down
System Of A Down (Picture: Clemente Ruiz / Press)

“It’s the way you see things and see the way you see the music going forward, what it means to you, what System of a Down might mean to you,” he continued. “There has been a discrepancy in that. But that obviously didn’t stop us from jumping on board for doing something for our people, which is beautiful. I don’t know what else to say. I think that’s where it’s at.”

You can watch the full conversation above.

System Of A Down went on a hiatus from 2006 to 2010 and are yet to record a full-length follow-up to their ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’ albums, which were released back in 2005.






Last month, drummer John Dolmayan said that the band deciding to go on hiatus was a “disastrous move”.

“I still feel like we have a lot of music in us,” he said. “And as big as the band is – we’re a massive draw internationally and here in the US – I think we could have been the biggest band in the world. Why not achieve that if you have the potential?”