SYSTEM OF A DOWN Drummer Says All Members Of Band Are To Blame For Lack Of New Music

SYSTEM OF A DOWN's John Dolmayan says that all members of the band are to blame for the personal and creative differences that have stalled their efforts to record a follow-up to the "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" albums, which came out in 2005.

The drummer's comments come less than a day after SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian issued a lengthy statement regarding the band's inability to record new music, apparently in response to guitarist Daron Malakian's claim in a new interview that Tankian is the sole member of the group who's standing in the way of them recording their first new music in more than a decade.

"Many theories and much speculation have circulated through the years, with blame focused on one member of the band for the lack of new material," John wrote on his Instagram. "If that is true; then why is that? Every action has a cause, every reaction has a cause, and the truth is each member of the band is equally responsible for both our incredible success on our previous recordings and our unbelievable failure to get along and make music together. Not one of us, rather ALL of us are to blame. Egomania, eccentricities, megalomania and sometimes just stupidity all play roles."

He added: "To our fans, I'm truly sorry for letting you down. To the songs that could have been, I'm sorry you haven't."

Tankian took to his Facebook page on Thursday (July 12) to post an essay dubbed "Confessions about SOAD by Serj Tankian" in which he opened up about the disagreements between him and the other members of SYSTEM OF A DOWN about how the band should go about making new music.

He admitted to being the one member who wanted to go on hiatus after the release of "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" albums, saying he did so for two reasons: first, he wanted some time to make some music on his own, and second, Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only band member to speak to the press.

Tankian wrote: "I wanted to leave the band before 'Mezmerize'/'Hypnotize' for these developing reasons. This is why I personally don't feel as close to the music on those records. There were songs I wanted to bring in but was hampered by unkept promises coupled by my own passivity at the time."

The singer said that working on his own for several years gave him the confidence to tour again with SYSTEM, but that plans for recording were stalled until he offered a way forward two years ago. He suggested that he and Malakian write six songs each with the band's full approval, while splitting the finances equally, along with other considerations.

But, Tankian said: "Ultimately, I had to draw a line in the sand because I knew I could never be happy going back to how things used to be within the band. And as we couldn't see eye to eye on all these points, we decided to put aside the idea of a record altogether for the time being. My only regret is that we have been collectively unable to give you another SOAD record. For that I apologize."