System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian has admitted any chances of a new album are incredibly slim.
Whilst discussing the band with Matt Everitt on BBC Radio 6 Music last week (November 12) Malakian explained, when asked about the possibility of a new record, that “It’s not that simple, I guess. I wish it was,” he said. “It should be; it should be. But it gets a little bit more complicated than that. I don’t wanna get into, like, ‘Well, it’s this person and that person.”.
Guitarist Daron and lead singer Serj Tankian have long struggled with their work-relationship due to creative and commercial differences, and add to that dynamic the pro-republican views of drummer John Dolmayan, which go against the band’s own political viewpoint, and you can see why it’s not as simple as returning to the studio.
Although the band have recently released two new tracks in solidarity with their Armenian homeland after its involvement in a bitter conflict with Azerbaijan, Daron explained that the bands coming together was for a higher cause “We did [these new songs] for a noble reason, and we did this for the right reasons. We didn’t make any money off this. It was totally for the noble reason of our country needs us.” He admitted that despite the tracks production going smoothly and everyone getting along, the band are unable to put their differences aside to make a new record.
So SOAD fans… for now we have to make do with two new tracks instead of an albums worth, which isn't bad seeing as both songs are awesome. Take a listen to 'Protect the Land' below, and in the meantime let's all hope that one day we get a follow up to the rock mastery of sister albums Hypnotize & Mezmerize.