Frontman Serj Tankian Just Offered a Promising Update on System of a Down

System of a Down fans keep hoping that the band will make new music, and while they don’t seem too keen on it, frontman Serj Tankian just offered a promising update on whether or not it will ever actually happen.

Tankian was recently a guest on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, and the vocalist fielded some questions about the possibility of new music. “Not at this time,” Tankian said when asked if there was anything on the horizon for SOAD.

“We’re all working on music,” he continued. “Daron [Malakian] just put out a record with Scars On Broadway, which is really good. I recommend people check it out. I’m putting out a record of covers, collaborations, and collages… But for System, it’s not about whether we all want to make a record. It’s about whether we see it the same way creatively. If we don’t, it’s not worth doing. If we do, then it’s worth doing.”

So he’s not saying, “no,” just “not right now,” and that’s something!

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System Of A Down has not released a new album in 20 years, following their split after the release of the double album Mezmerize and Hypnotize in 2005. They reunited in 2011 to occasionally tour, and in 2020 dropped two new songs — “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz” — to support humanitarian aid in Armenia.

As Tankian explains it, the lack of new music from the band is simply a difference in “creative” vision among the members. “Our differences of opinion were always creative differences, which I am proud to say. They weren’t personal differences,” he shared. “We always loved and respected each other, and more than ever now. So, that’s not why we haven’t made a record. We haven’t made a record because of a vision difference, and that’s an artistic difference.”

“Most bands, they don’t work together because they may not like each other. In our case, that’s not the case at all,” he continued, noting that all members of SOAD are close offstage. “We love each other. We’ll tour together, we’ll hang out, have dinner together, bring the family over, enjoy each other. But if we don’t see eye to eye on something, then we won’t do that project — period.”

While the band may not be making music as a unit, each member has projects they’re working on, with Tankian dropping a new solo song this past week. Click here to check it out on our New Music Friday list.