Much to the dismay of fans everywhere, it certainly appears System of a Down can’t put their differences aside for long enough to record a new album.
In a new interview on the Ernie Ball: Striking A Chord podcast (via metalheadzone), bassist Shavo Odadjian opened up about the barriers the band face in hitting the studio again.
“If we could just agree… if people weren’t so adamant about their views,” he said.
“It would be nice to just back up a little and say, ‘You know, let’s just do it. And I’ll listen to you if you listen to me,’ instead of, like, ‘I think it should be this way, ‘I think it should be that way.'”
However, Odadjian also went on to reveal he is “optimistic” about the prospect of patching things up.
“Nothing has gone down so terrible that we can never make music together again,” he said.
“That’s why I’m always optimistic, and whenever I say that, it becomes headlines. ‘Oh, Shavo is optimistic.’ Well yeah, bro, I’m optimistic about a lot of things… it doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen,” he continued.
Love Metal?
Get the latest Metal news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“But the reason why I’m optimistic is because nothing has been done that can’t be undone. It’s not like someone said or did something that’s ‘end-all.’”
It seems Odadjian may be referring to the differing political views between bandmates and brothers-in-law Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan.
Speaking to Forbes, Tankian said it is “frustrating” to see Dolmayan publicly supporting Donald Trump.
“He’s my brother-in-law and my drummer. Is it frustrating being politically opposite to your own drummer and brother-in-law? Fuck yeah. Of course, it’s frustrating,” he said.
However, he revealed that they are on the same side when it comes to the issues concerning their cultural homeland of Armenia and Artsakh.
“When it comes to Armenian issues, we’re on the same exact page… we know what injustice is happening, we work together,” he said.
“We’re doing different auction activities and working together on many fronts… the Armenian nation is united, whether you voted for Republican, Democrat or neither.”
Dolmayan also recently defended his right to express his differing political ideologies, saying it’s “okay to have diversity of opinion.”
“One of the reasons why I put up these [political] posts is because System of a Down has a legacy of being left-leaning, which isn’t always the case,” he shared on the Deviant Gentleman podcast.
“Serj, of course, is responsible for the lyrics, but they didn’t always represent the band in the way that we maybe wanted [them] to… I don’t speak for any of the individuals except for myself, and neither does Serj,” he said.
“But because he had that platform of writing lyrics, the perception was out there that that’s how the band felt at all times, where I don’t even think Serj necessarily felt those ways at all times.”
Check out Shavo Odadjian discussing the prospect of a new album from System of a Down on the Ernie Ball: Striking A Chord Podcast:
