System of a Down occasionally pulls a Metallica and comes out in the media talking about wanting to do a new record, though in all fairness the latter has something to show for the talk. Recently drummer for the group John Dolmayan sat down with Loudwire for an interview about where the group was at in terms of writing a new record, their first since 2005's Hypnotize. Dolmayan initially touches on what it was like to get back to playing with the group for live shows after their hiatus in 2006.
"It didn’t start that way. When we decided to get back together, it was weird. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling in the beginning. I can equate it to if you’ve ever had difficulties with a girlfriend and you guys took some time off from each other, when you get back together there’s that elation that you’re back together, but there’s also a little bit of fear, you know? Is it going to work? Is it going to be fun? Will it be the same? Is there going to be resentment? It took a long time to get past that, I’d say months. As we played more and more shows, it became more and more fun. Those feelings started to subside. I feel like this band still has a lot of issues, things we just have to work out. I’m not really happy with where the band is right now. I think that it’s been way too long since we’ve made an album and I’ve kind of had enough of the mentality of 'that’s okay.' It’s not okay."
He then touches on the fact that while the members of the band want to do a new record, there are certain "positive" things that are holding them back from doing so right now. None of which Dolmayan is at liberty to discuss, of course! At least he cracks wise about the fact that the band is taking forever with the material, obviously knowing fans are patiently waiting.
"But it’s true. We’re turning into the f—ing Eagles now. 15 years are gonna go by before we make a new album. [Laughs] For me, it’s irritating. But I do the best I can to understand that there’s a lot to be worked through in order to make something great and if it isn’t fantastic, there’s no reason for us to do it … It always seems like it’s on the cusp of happening, but there’s also some personal reasons we haven’t started yet. We could have started already, but we chose not to for personal reasons that I’m not at liberty to discuss right now. It’s positive stuff, that’s all I can say at the moment. We could have very easily have been in the studio as you and I are speaking right now, but for something very positive, we couldn’t. Let’s just leave it at that. Let people surmise what that means."
Here's hoping the wait is worth it on a Carcass-level of reunion album!
