SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s SERJ TANKIAN To Release ‘Elasticity’ EP In The Fall

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian will release a new solo EP called "Elasticity" in the fall. Tankian recently filmed a video for the disc's apparent first single, "Rumi". Several stills from the shoot can be seen below. This past May, Tankian described "Elasticity" as a collection of "rock songs" that were first meant for SYSTEM OF A DOWN. He told SPIN: "Originally, I had these songs in mind for a SYSTEM record if we were to end up doing a SYSTEM record. But as we could not really see eye to eye on how to go forward with that, I decided to finish them off myself and release them as an EP." Tankian later told Grammy.com that the songs on "Elasticity" "have more synth flavors than most SYSTEM songs do, more arpeggiated stuff like that, but they still have the heavy groove and also a lot of beautiful ballady stuff that is more like 'Elect The Dead' and some of my earlier solo stuff. It's a really good EP," he said. Tankian said he was calling the EP "Elasticity" as a play on SYSTEM's massive 2001 album "Toxicity". SYSTEM OF A DOWN hasn't released any new music since the "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005. In 2018, guitarist Daron Malakian publicly accused Tankian of not wanting to record, with Tankian responding that creative and financial issues with Malakian led to the stalemate. In a message on Facebook, Tankian wrote that Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only band member to speak to the press. Last year, Serj told Rolling Stone that the public airing of his dispute with Daron didn't open up any more conversations about SYSTEM's future. "I think it released a lot of tension and negativity," he said. "Everything became more public and open, and that was that. There were no further discussions." SYSTEM OF A DOWN played a couple of live shows in May 2019, including headlining slots at Columbus, Ohio's Sonic Temple festival and Chicago Open Air. The band was scheduled to play a number of European festivals this summer, but all of those shows have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.