System Of A Down’s John Dolmayan shares the “secret sauce” of how they might get new album made 

System Of A Down‘s John Dolmayan has shared the “secret sauce” that he thinks will help the band get a new album made.

• READ MORE: System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian: “We are not living in a just world”

The legendary metal bands have yet to release an album since their two 2005 records, ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’. They have toured intermittently since ending their hiatus in 2011 – including 2025 shows in North and South America – but have only shared two singles in the past two decades: 2020’s ‘Protect the Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’.

Now, drummer John Dolmayan has spoken about the possibility of a new album coming together, and revealed the trick that he thinks would help get the ball rolling.

“I told Daron [Malakian, guitarist/vocalist] the secret sauce of how to get an album done…. Bring your songs in last,” he shared during a recent episode of the But That 1% With Sona Oganesyan podcast.

“Traditionally, when we go in to record, Daron would bring his songs in, because he’d have a lot of them. They were very well thought out and they were the most complete,” he added. “I’ve actually given him this advice, I said, ‘Why don’t you just tell Serj [Tankian, singer], ‘Bring your songs in first. We’ll go through all your ideas.’ And then Shavo [Odadjian, bassist], you bring in all your ideas. And then Daron, you bring in your ideas last.”

Dolmayan added that, to him, that process would feel like an “olive branch that says ‘I care about your songs more than I care about my own, and I’m gonna have you bring in yours first.’”

The drummer then went on to share how he thinks the songwriting from Malakian, the lyrics from Tankian and the riffs from Shavo prove that the band have “got a lot of strength”, but the only way to fully harness this will be to “allow everyone to have their time [throughout the writing process], and not at the last part”.

“[If] it’s the last thing we do, well, that belittles that person’s contribution, and then they feel that way after the fact,” he added. “That would be my suggestion [to Malakian], just bring yours last. Yours are gonna be great.”

Describing his ideal situation to get an album made, the sticksman said that he’d like to “block off six months” in 2027, and write in one of the member’s houses “with no rules” and “absolutely no limit on how many songs you can bring in or timeline of how long that’s gonna take.”

This is far from the first time that the band members have spoken out about the possibility of a new System Of A Down album. At the start of the year, Odadjian said that their South American shows in April and May, and North American dates in August and September could be a chance to “test the waters” – but it didn’t necessarily signal a new album.

In September, the bassist also said that his “door is always open” to making new music with the band and that he had “a hundred riffs waiting”. In an interview in December, however, he told NME that the hopes of anything coming to fruition were still slim. 

Tankian has taken a hot-and-cold approach to a new SOAD record as well. Back in October 2024 he said that a new System record would be a “fresh start in a brand new way”, but then later revealed that he had been put off recording after becoming “very passive” while working on ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’.

He then dismissed rumours that the band would be teasing a new album with their 2025 tour dates, saying: “There is no album that is written.”

At the start of the year, Malakian also admitted that he was not excited at the prospect of a new album. Speaking to Rick Rubin, who produced the two 2005 albums the guitarist said: “It would have been nice to see where the band would have evolved if we kept putting music out. If we put out an album now, it’s just so far away from [‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’] it doesn’t continue the story to me.”

While Dolmayan now thinks he has found the “secret sauce” to make a new album into a reality, he also said back in March that the thought of the members coming together for new material could interfere with the positive atmosphere they have on tour.

“There’s just too much drama involved. And I like going out and having a good time with my friends and playing shows, and I don’t want that to disappear,” he said. “There would have to be very strict guidelines for me to make another record with System again.”

System Of A Down members have gone on to establish new projects outside of the band since 2005. In October, Odadjian’s band Seven Hours After Violet released their self-titled debut LP, Tankian announced a new solo EP, ‘Foundations’ last year, and Malakian recently dropped ‘Addicted To The Violence’ – his latest album with Scars On Broadway.

Speaking to NME about the latter earlier this month, Malakian also shared what it was like to be back on tour with SOAD, and said that it felt like they have “reconnected as friends”.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make a new album, it just means that we’re friends again,” he added. “It’s the album shit that drives wedges between us. I’m a little afraid to go there, to be honest with you. I’d rather just have my friends and celebrate this band that we formed over 30 years ago.”

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