Metal Anarchy

During an appearance on the “Broken Record” podcast, System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian further discussed the possibility of the band moving on without him. The frontman says he is “totally open to it still.”

Tankian said the following when asked about the lack of new music from the band:

“Creatively, I keep on making music and making art and doing creatively what I’m meant to do. And if the opportunity arises for us to work together in an egalitarian fashion in the right way with the right vibe and the right influence, then we’ll do it.

In 2020, we put out two songs because there was the invasion of Artsakh and Armenia happening by Azerbaijan during COVID, and people didn’t know about what was going on so we used the band and putting out new music as an opportunity to spread awareness and we were successful in doing so. So hopefully it’s not just the decimation of our people that’s gonna take System Of A Down writing new music, but I think when that time is, and I don’t know if it is ever or if it will be, that would be amazing. But I don’t get sad by it, because to me it is what it is. When it’s right, then it happens. When it’s not, it shouldn’t happen.”

He continued when asked about his previous offer to leave the group:

“I’ve offered them that opportunity and been very supportive of it many years. If they wanted to do that, if they wanted to continue in a way that I didn’t — for example, if they wanted to tour a lot and I just wanna do a couple of shows here and there, because I’m not into touring a lot, to be fair to them, if they wanted to do that, I’m totally open to it still. I’m not sure they want to do that. They haven’t until now, and I think it would take something away from the prestige and legacy of the band itself, but as friends and as someone who cares very much about my partners, I would be okay with it.”

He also added the following about the current lineup:

“Everything that each person is — from their personality to their playing style to how they think, how they feel and the combination thereof — make System Of A Down what it is. If you take any particle away from this compound, it’s not going to be System Of A Down. It could be called System Of A Down, but it’s not going to really be System Of A Down. Even the stubbornness and the creative differences, everything, the push and pull, the manicness, the calmness, all of the above is what makes who we are.”

[via Blabbermouth]