SERJ TANKIAN Says SYSTEM OF A DOWN Members Don't See 'Eye To Eye' On How To Proceed With New Album

SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian has confirmed to Rolling Stone that the band has attempted to make a possible follow-up to "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" albums, which came out in 2005. "We've discussed it and we've played each other songs, but we still haven't come eye to eye on how things should be done for us to be able to move forward with it," he said. "And that's where it's been."

Despite their disagreement on how to proceed, Tankian clarifies that the four members of SYSTEM OF A DOWN are getting along better than ever. "That's the funny thing. When people don't see a record, they assume the worst about your internal relationship," he said. "But the truth is we're actually better friends — at least I'm better friends with everyone than I've ever been. John's [Dolmayan, SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer] my brother-in-law; he's in my family. We have a great time together touring. But sometimes putting together a record, and that creative output and how things should be done, is different in four people's heads and it doesn't always come together. Fortunate or unfortunate, however you want to call it, that's the truth. But touring is easy, because you've done all these songs. You have fun, you go out and tour, and that's it."

Tankian added that he got a kick out of how news spread that he was interested only in instrumental music after a Russian outlet quoted him as saying "screw vocals" in an interview which was conducted several months ago.

"Everyone's looking for headlines," he said. "I hate that. I hate when they take something and they just go with it. If you're going to print that, at least send us an email asking, 'Hey, did you say this?' And I'd say, 'I probably did, but it was in this context.' At least check with me. Don't take an interview that was translated from Russian from five months ago on the set of a film without checking. Everyone's picking it up and going, 'Oh, my God, that means he's not doing SYSTEM again?' It's kind of funny. You want to negate all these things, but then you're like, 'Well, I didn't start it in the first place.' Why do I have to put out fires every two weeks? I've got shit to do. I'm working on music. [Laughs]"

Tankian has toured with SYSTEM OF A DOWN over the past few years but the band has not released new music in more than a decade.

Dolmayan recently said that it was "very disheartening" that the band hasn't made a new album in nearly 12 years.

Dolmayan revealed in a 2016 interview with Kerrang! magazine that SYSTEM OF A DOWN had written music for more than a dozen new songs for a possible follow-up to "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize".

The band went on hiatus in the fall of that year, although they have toured most summers since 2011.

Tankian has two new film scores under his belt. The first, for a movie called "Intent To Destroy", was released digitally via iTunes and Apple on November 17, while the second, for a movie titled "Furious: The Legend Of Kolovrat", arrived digitally on December 8.