System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian has made it clear that he's open to leaving the band so they can make new music and tour. Tankian said in his new book Down With The System that he originally made the offer in 2017, and is still fine with leaving the group presently.
But outside the realm of more new music and touring lies a very important question – would System Of A Down suck with a different vocalist? In an interview with the Broken Record podcast, Tankian admits that he knows it certainly wouldn't be the same.
"Absolutely. I've offered them that opportunity and been very supportive of it many years," said Tankian. "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."
Tankian later added that everyone in System Of A Down is vital to the way the band sounds, and said that System Of A Down without everyone in the current lineup would only be System Of A Down in name only. Which feels… kinda shitty, right? Then why leave if you know deep down that the System Of A Down that everyone knows and loves would be over?
"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."
