SYSTEM OF A DOWN Completes First Rehearsal In Five Years

According to SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian, the band completed its "first rehearsal in five years" on Tuesday, February 8. Writing on his Twitter profile, Shavo went on to call the experience "amazing," before adding, "I love my band."

SYSTEM OF A DOWN officially announced its return on November 29, 2010, with the band confirming that it will headline or co-headline several prominent European festivals this summer. A dozen or so gigs across Europe have been announced, with North American tour plans yet to be confirmed.

Odadjian told The Pulse of Radio a while back that he could never envision SYSTEM OF A DOWN going away permanently. "We're brothers, man, we'll take bullets for each other," he said. "So it's like, you kind of miss each other after a while and you, one guy makes the first move, then another starts making phone calls....this is a juggernaut, man. SYSTEM OF A DOWN is my lifeline. It'll never go away. We could not make a record for 10 years — that's not gonna happen, but I'm just saying we could — and we'll come back strong."

Odadjian hinted in a 2010 interview that financial problems and creative differences led the band to take a break and prevent a permanent split.

There is no word yet on whether SYSTEM plans to record a new album.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN went on hiatus in late 2006 after touring behind its two 2005 albums, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize". All four members of the group expressed a desire to work on separate projects.

Tankian has issued two solo albums, while guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan launched a short-lived band called SCARS ON BROADWAY in 2008. Odadjian worked on a project with RZA from the WU-TANG CLAN called ACHOZEN, but no music from that has surfaced.