System Of A Down Drummer John Dolmayan On New Album: ‘Don’t Expect It’

System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan recently shared his thoughts on the possibility of the band recording new music, suggesting fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath. In a new interview with Argentina’s Rock & Pop FM 95.9 radio station, Dolmayan addressed the nearly two-decade gap since the band released their Mezmerize and Hypnotize albums in 2005. Using a metaphor, he explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):

“I would say that if you are satisfied with what you have, then you don’t need more. It’s like if you go to dinner and you just keep eating, eventually you’re not gonna be hungry anymore. But if you know what you wanna eat and you look forward to that and you enjoy it, then you won’t be hungry. Now if System of a Down makes more music, and that’s not impossible, although after 25 years, it’s unlikely. I would say that don’t expect it, but if it happens, it’ll be a nice surprise for all of us.”

In separate comments made recently to Lilian Tahmasian, Dolmayan expressed even more hesitation about heading back into the studio, pointing to internal friction within the band. He stated:

“I don’t know if I want it at this point. There’s just too much drama involved. And I like going out and having a good time with my friends and playing shows, and I don’t want that to disappear. There would have to be very strict guidelines for me to make another record with System again.”

Dolmayan touched upon some of these internal dynamics in the Tahmasian interview, particularly concerning differing viewpoints around singer Serj Tankian‘s outspoken nature and its place within the band’s identity. He elaborated:

“We had problems with that because Serj is very outspoken. He has one way of thinking, some things we agree with — the rest of the band — and some things we don’t. Some things we’re exactly on par with. With Serj — we don’t want that to be the only thing because we don’t feel like that’s the only element of System of a Down. It’s a big part of the band.”

For his part, Serj Tankian outlined his own conditions for creating a new System of a Down album last year while promoting his memoir, “Down With The System.” In an interview with The Jesea Lee Show, Tankian highlighted the need for changes in the band’s internal processes:

“Egalitarian approach to everything within the band. [In other words] kind of more equality in terms of sourcing of the music, in terms of splitting everything, including publishing, in terms of ideas, in terms of sharing the vision — that kind of stuff.”

He recalled presenting these ideas to his bandmates years prior:

“It’s in the book. We call it a manifesto jokingly because I wrote points down that, years ago when I had some new songs that I thought would be amazing with System, and so I played it for the guys. And I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got an idea of a vision, a different way forward that I think would be very beneficial for the band.’ And I presented it — we call it a manifesto in the book almost half jokingly, but bringing a manifesto to rock musicians is… [Laughs] I guess it doesn’t work — it doesn’t work. But I was trying to instill the same type of egalitarian principles as I love as an activist within whatever I do. And at that time, it didn’t work, but maybe it will one day. We’ll see.”

Despite the creative impasse preventing a new album, System of a Down has continued to perform live intermittently since reuniting in 2011. Their only new recorded music in the last 20 years came in November 2020 with the release of two songs, “Protect The Land” and “G*nocidal Humanoidz.” Motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the tracks aimed to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian efforts in the band’s ancestral homeland of Armenia, ultimately raising over $600,000 through sales and fan donations.

The band recently wrapped up their “Wake Up! South America” tour, marking their first performances on the continent since 2015. They are now gearing up for a series of major North American stadium shows later in 2025. This run includes two nights at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (August 27-28) with Korn, two nights at Soldier Field in Chicago (August 31-September 1) with Avenged Sevenfold, and concludes with two shows at Rogers Stadium in Toronto (September 3 & 5) alongside Deftones.