Last week, members of the heavy metal band System of a Down posted rehearsal pictures on their Instagram accounts. Although the band has not yet issued a statement about these pictures, a lot of the group's fans believe that System of a Down is in the process of releasing a follow-up album to 2005's Mezmerize.
Rumors about a new album immediately emerged after drummer John Dolmayan shared a photo of bassist Shavo Odadjian and guitarist Daron Malakian jamming together. Odadjian then returned the favor by posting a picture of Dolmayan with his kit.
1..2..3..4.. #systemofadown #letdothis
A photo posted by John Dolmayan (@realjohndolmayan) on Aug 31, 2016 at 6:17pm PDT
4.3.2.1..... :). #systemofadown #letsdothis A photo posted by Shavo O (@shavoodadjian) on Aug 31, 2016 at 6:47pm PDT
The photos clearly indicate that the three musicians have reunited to jam in a rehearsal space. Although it is not yet clear if they were composing new music, the #letsdothis hashtag that Odadjian and Dolmayan used in their posts has caused fans to assume that the group was working on a new album.
The last studio album released by the band was Mezmerize in 2005, which features the singles "Cigaro," "B.Y.O.B." and "Revenga." A couple of months later, this was followed by Hypnotize, which served as the second half of the group's double album.
In May this year, vocalist Serj Tankian told Rolling Stone that he has been communicating with his bandmates regarding the creation of new material. Although the singer was not able to provide a timeline about the project, he noted that he wants to go in a different direction for the new album.
"We're communicating and trying to see if we can bring our material together," he told Rolling Stone. "There's definitely a lot of communication going on, a lot of back and forth."
"I think it would be great to create something brand new in a new direction," he continued. "It would be very exciting, but everyone's got to be on board, on the same page, and it's got to be done in a way so that everyone is happy."
