According to blabbermouth.net, during a recent interview with Metal Hammer Magazine, System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian was asked about the comments his bandmate John Dolmayan  made last year, where the drummer claimed that Tankian “hasn’t wanted to be in the band for a long time.” Tankian responded with: “John means the world to me. He’s my brother-in-law, I love him, and I saw him just yesterday, but there are times he’s got mad and said fucking shit. And look, there’s times I’ve gotten mad and said fucking shit, too. The option has always been there for the band to move on without me, and John knows that.”

The frontman added, “In the end, to me System Of A Down is beyond the band, It’s our relationship together. And it means more to me than the band itself, or even the music itself. And that is hard for other people, maybe even other people in the band, to understand. But, as I saw from the stage at Sick New World last year, the multi-generational appeal of the music we have made is mind-blowing, bro. Our music is more timeless than we ever imagined, and that is the hugest compliment for any artist.”

In his recently released memoir, Down With The System, Tankian revealed that his bandmates had auditioned a potential new vocalist in 2017. Tankian had explained that his disdain for touring led to his decision to tell his bandmates to carry on without him so they could continue living their dream. Tankian later learned that the band had begun looking at new singers and he also shared that in “more recent years,” he had pitched a close friend as a potential replacement but Tankian did not think the band ever seriously considered the offer.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat