System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has reflected on the band’s hiatus, admitting that he never wanted to take a break.
It’s been fifteen years since System Of A Down released their last album, Hypnotised, and up until last month, we hadn’t heard a peep of new music.
John Dolmayan, who owns a comic shop called Torpedo Comics in Las Vegas, recently sat down with Action Figures host Richard Allen to discuss the turmoil within the band that’s stopping them from releasing a new album as well as their long hiatus.
“I never wanted System to take a hiatus,” he admits. “I think it was a disastrous move for us, because we never reached our peak. I still feel like we have a lot of music in us. And as big as the band is — we’re a massive draw internationally and here in the U.S. — I think we could have been the biggest band in the world. Why not achieve that if you have the potential?”
There are a number of hitches stopping System of a Down from recording a new album, that range from a lack of cohesion over the creative progression of the group to polarising political opinions. Despite these conflicts, the band have been able to tour intermediately since 2011.
“So I feel like, yes, System is a great band. We have a great live show and I’m very proud of what we have achieved,” he mused.
“It doesn’t mean we still can’t, but it’s unlikely, because if you can’t put your ego aside — you’ve gotta take that cloak off, your ego, and put it here — and get in a room and work together, and do what’s best for the band.
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“And if everybody isn’t thinking of what’s best for the band, the band has no choice. The definition of a band is the selflessness. That’s what a society is, isn’t it? We’re all thinking, like, together we make something great. Alone, we might not even survive.”
“At the end of the day, we achieved quite a bit. So our epitaphs are already written. My kids’ kids will be able to say, ‘That was my grandfather, and he was in this band. And look what they did.’ And they’ll be able to listen to that for as long as humanity exists, I guess.”
System of a Down broke their fifteen-year new music silence last month with the release of ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’.
The tracks were both released on Bandcamp. With all proceeds from the songs will be donated to the Armenia Fund, an organisation that provides humanitarian relief to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
“The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Erdogan in Turkey not only want to claim Artsakh and Armenia as their own, but are committing genocidal acts with impunity on humanity and wildlife to achieve their mission,” the band shared in a statement upon the single’s release. “They are banking on the world being too distracted with COVID, elections and civil unrest to call out their atrocities.”
