System of a Down haven't played a U.S. show in almost two years, since 2015's Riot Fest, but it looks like they'll be playing this summer.
Aftershock Festival just released a teaser for their lineup announcement, which is happening April 9, 2018, and we are certain the band they are teasing is System of A Down. The annual festival happens on Saturday, October 13 and Sunday, October 14 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA.
Any die-hard System of A Down fan will immediately recognize that riff as "Prison Song" from their 2001 album Toxicity:
A fan in the comments of the Aftershock announcement also noted one of the stills in the teaser is the band's debut album, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
We'll keep you posted when things get officially announced. The tease raises a lot of questions.
Will this be System of A Down's only show? And will System of a Down have any new music to play.
System Of A Down have not released a new album since its two efforts Hypnotize and Mezmerize in late 2004/early 2005, and it seems like it's going to stay that way for a little bit. While it looked as though there was hope for a new album in 2017, bassist Shavo Odadjian said recently he doesn't see the album happening anytime soon. In a recent interview, Serj Tankian said the band can't agree on how to move forward.
We have. We've discussed it and we've played each other songs, but we still haven't come eye to eye on how things should be done for us to be able to move forward with it. And that's where it's been.
Tankian says despite the lack of a new record over the course of 12 years, people shouldn't assume the band isn't getting along. They're still really good friends (and family now in some cases) and they have fun doing shows, but a new record just isn't something that's happening at the moment.
That's the funny thing. When people don't see a record, they assume the worst about your internal relationship. But the truth is we're actually better friends – at least I'm better friends with everyone than I've ever been. John's my brother-in-law; he's in my family. We have a great time together touring. But sometimes putting together a record, and that creative output and how things should be done, is different in four people's heads and it doesn't always come together. Fortunate or unfortunate, however you want to call it, that's the truth. But touring is easy, because you've done all these songs. You have fun, you go out and tour, and that's it.
At the time, Tankian expressed concern that a new album would require a touring commitment, and with a young family, it's not something he's interested in. You can read his full thoughts here.
