System Of A Down's Daron Malakian warns that new music may never come

System Of A Down guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian recently joined Rick Rubin for an extensive two-hour conversation, reflecting on SOAD's career, songwriting process, and the tensions that contributed to their prolonged hiatus.

Rubin, who signed SOAD to American Recordings and co-produced all five of their albums, discussed the band's evolution with Malakian, including the inspirations behind some of their most iconic tracks. Malakian also addressed the long-standing debate over System's genre, pushing back against the nü-metal label and preferring to describe the band as alternative metal due to their more experimental approach.

Malakian shared:

Korn was doing their thing. Deftones were doing their thing. I guess it's the scene that people like to call nü-metal. I know a lot of people see System Of A Down as nü-metal. We don't really see it that way. I like the word alternative metal, maybe more. I think we're more little more experimental.

…We had songs like Spiders, Aerials, ATWA, that had… weren't necessarily metal influences. They could have been psychedelic influences, and different kinds of rock influences. So bands we played with in LA, you know, some of them got signed: Static-X, Coal Chamber, again, bands that you put into the nü-metal.

But it just so happens that we were around at the same time and we came in through the same scene as they did. But I never felt like we really sounded like [them.] I like those bands, all the bands I just mentioned, I think are really good bands. But I don't think we really sounded like them. I feel like we were doing something a little detached.

The discussion touched on the well-documented creative rift between Malakian and Serj Tankian during the Mezmerize/Hypnotize era, with Malakian acknowledging that Tankian was emotionally checked out during those sessions. Tankian had previously aired grievances over the band's internal dynamics, creative control, and financial structure, revealing that he had considered leaving the band before those albums were even recorded saying:

When we first started out our creative input and financial revenue splits were close to equal within the band. By the time Mezmerize/Hypnotize came around we were at the diametrically opposite end on both with Daron controlling both the creative process and making the lions share of publishing not to mention wanting to be the only one to do press.

I wanted to leave the band before Mezmerize/Hypnotize for these developing reasons. This is why I personally don't feel as close to the music on those records. There were songs I wanted to bring in but was hampered by unkept promises coupled by my own passivity at the time.

Malakian also expressed pride in System's catalog but admitted that the idea of a new album feels increasingly unlikely, saying:

If we put out an album now, it's just so far away from Hypnotize/Mezmerize, it doesn't continue the story to me... There was a time that that might have been something I wanted. I'm not sure how much I want that anymore.

Additionally, Malakian confirmed that a new Scars On Broadway album will drop in 2025, revealing that he has been holding onto the material for years and will now dedicate his backlog of musical ideas to the project instead of System.

Watch/listen to the 2+ hour podcast below:

Despite internal disputes keeping new music on ice, System of a Down have announced their most extensive touring plans since 2017. 

* = with Korn, Polyphia & Wisp
# = with Avenged Sevenfold, Polyphia & Wisp
$ = with Deftones, Polyphia & Wisp:

[via thePRP]