John Dolmayan: System Of A Down 'Should Have Moved On' Without Serj Tankian

System of a Down released new music for the first time in 15 years with 2020's "Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz," but have been quiet ever since. The singles were a surprise to fans after the band went on hiatus in 2006, and though the move seemed to confirm the members were all on good terms, John Dolmayan divulged his dissatisfaction with singer Serj Tankian during a recent interview, lamenting that SOAD "should have moved on" without him instead of taking a break nearly 20 years ago.

“Serj hasn’t really wanted to be in the band for a long time. And quite frankly, we probably should have parted ways around 2006," the drummer admitted. We tried to get together multiple times to make an album, but there were certain rules set in place that made it difficult to do so and maintain the integrity of what System of a Down stood for.”

“So we couldn’t really come together and agree," he continued. "And part of that is Serj’s fault, and part of that is my fault, and [bassist] Shavo [Odadjian’s], and Daron’s, as well. But at the end of the day, if you have a majority of the band thinking one way and one person thinking the other, it’s very difficult to come together and make music thinking that person is important.”

When asked to clarify his comments, Dolmayan didn't hold back. “I think we should have moved on, and if Serj didn’t wanna be in the band at that time, we should have just moved on and done it with somebody else," he said bluntly. "But that’s what happens when you’re loyal and you really wanna make it work; you’ll put up with things that may be detrimental to the health of the band or the health of the situation. Maybe it would have been better if we moved on and got another singer for an album or two and continued to make music and brought Serj back later if he wanted to come back. That probably would have been better. But as it is, I think we wasted 15, maybe 20 years of our lives waiting.”

For what it's worth, in October Tankian teased that SOAD "will be making an announcement about something" in 2023, but wouldn't elaborate on it. Their debut album turns 25 this year, so it could have to do with that. Or maybe a long-awaited new album.