Final 12 months, Serj Tankian revealed in his memoir that System of a Down auditioned a brand new singer to switch him, along with his blessing. Now, bandmate Daron Malakian has admitted that the potential vocalist “sounded good,” however that it simply didn’t really feel like System of a Down with out Tankian.
In his guide, Down With the System, Tankian wrote that he advised his bandmates in 2017 that they need to discover a new singer, as his want to tour waned. Because it turned out, the band did certainly check out a brand new singer inside the subsequent 12 months, however apparently bassist Shavo Odadjian advised Tankian the man “couldn’t scream and growl.”
Malakian, in a brand new interview with Final Guitar’s podcast On The File (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), provided up some new particulars pertaining to the scenario.
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“It was one thing that I by no means actually wished to do,” insisted Malakian, “For me, System of a Down is us 4. If considered one of us 4 isn’t doing System of a Down, I don’t actually wanna do System of a Down. Did we take into consideration that? Certain. However did we actually pursue it deeply? No. We tried. I don’t wanna get into names. We tried, and whoever we tried, he sounded good.”
He continued, “Individuals would assume, ‘Oh, Daron is the one that might need that.’ I used to be the one which was most in opposition to it. I used to be, like, ‘I don’t wanna look to my left and see different folks.’ System is System, and if that’s not gonna be System, then I don’t know if that’s the System I wanna be part of.”
Malakian added, “So yeah, I’m not or actually form of by no means was [in having a different singer in System of a Down]. I believe Serj might need stated one thing in his guide about [how the guy we tried out not ended up not working out] as a result of the man couldn’t do the growls or one thing, and that’s why we didn’t [pick him to replace Serj], and that’s not true. [Serj] and I’ve by no means had this dialog of why it didn’t occur. However actually the rationale why it didn’t occur is I form of was the one which was, like, ‘I don’t assume I wanna pursue this. I don’t wanna do that with out him.’ … Trying on the skin of the band. I’m a fan of that. I’m not making an attempt to vary that. By no means was.”
Whereas it’s been almost 20 years since System of a Down launched an album, the band continues to play sporadic exhibits, with Tankian remaining as their lead singer. Later this month, SOAD will launch a six-date North American stadium tour, enjoying two-night stands in East Rutherford, New Jersey (with Korn); Chicago (with Avenged Sevenfold); and Toronto (with Deftones). Tickets can be found right here.
Watch Daron Malakian’s full interview with Final Guitar’s podcast On The File beneath.
