The dam seems to have broken, as System of a Down’s members have started addressing the lack of a new album with unbridled honestly. After guitarist Daron Malakian singled out frontman Serj Tankian for not wanting to make a record, drummer John Dolmayan countered with a social media post imploring fans to not blame just one member.

Malakian had tip-toed around the System issue while promoting Scars on Broadway’s upcoming album, Dictator, but finally addressed Tankian’s apparent lack of cooperation during an interview with Kerrang. “There is, I guess, one of us, that doesn't want to make an album that way and wants to make an album his way, and not everyone is on board with that … I don't want to throw Serj under the bus — he's my friend and he's someone that I care about — but I don't know how to change his mind," says the guitarist. "We've all sat down and we've had meetings, and he's totally set in his way of thinking."

A few hours later, Tankian released his own statement, taking responsibility for SOAD’s 2006 hiatus and addressing the gritty details of the band’s many attempts to find common ground on new music. “As we couldn’t see eye to eye on all these points we decided to put aside the idea of a record altogether for the time being,” Tankian writes. “My only regret is that we have been collectively unable to give you another SOAD record. For that I apologize.”

About an hour before Tankian’s message was posted, Dolmayan responded to Daron Malakian’s comments via Instagram:

Many theories and much speculation have circulated through the years with blame focused on one member of the band for the lack of new material, if that is true; then why is that? Every action has a cause , every reaction has a cause and the truth is, each member of the band is equally responsible for both our incredible success on our previous recordings and our unbelievable failure to get along and make music together. Not one of us, rather ALL of us are to blame. Egomania eccentricities, megalomania and sometimes just stupidity all play roles.

To our fans, I’m truly sorry for letting you down, to the songs that could have been-I’m sorry you haven’t.

The fourth and final member of SOAD, Shavo Odadjian, has yet to speak out on the issue. Stay tuned for further System of a Down updates as they continue to roll in.

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