SYSTEM OF A DOWN, DEFTONES Announce Summer Dates

SYSTEM OF A DOWN and DEFTONES will join forces for the following shows in August:

Aug. 02 - Philadelphia, PA - Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug. 04 - Holmdel Township, NJ - PNC Center
Aug. 05 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon At Jones Beach
Aug. 07 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
Aug. 09 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center
Aug. 11 - Montreal, QC - Heavy MTL
Aug. 12 - Toronto, ON - Heavy T.O.
Aug. 14 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Amphitheater
Aug. 15 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena

During an interview with Brazil's Multishow after SYSTEM OF A DOWN's performance at the Rock In Rio festival last October in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, the band's drummer, John Dolmayan, was asked if SOAD fans can expect to hear a new studio album from the group following its current reunion tour. "We're gonna take it day by day," he said. "For the people who are waiting for an album — I know there's a lot of people waiting for an album; I'm waiting for an album just like they are. It's gonna happen when it's right and when we can make something that tops what we've done in the past. Because we don't really wanna rest on our laurels — where what you've done in the past is what you depend on. Well, I don't wanna do that, and I know the rest of the guys don't wanna do that. Instead of resting on our laurels, we wanna throw them away and create something new and specific for this generation that they can say that's their SYSTEM OF A DOWN."

Dolmayan previously told Straight.com about SYSTEM OF A DOWN's five-year hiatus, "I personally don't like breaks — I like to continue playing. But it was nice to go off and be John Dolmayan, as opposed to John from SYSTEM, for a while. I think everybody had similar feelings."

The drummer explained that a desire to pull off the road for a while and reconnect with their lives is what led SYSTEM to take an extended vacation from each other, saying, "When you're on the road and in the studio all the time, it's kind of like traveling at light speed. When you come back, it's like 20 years have passed by, and you're only one or two hours older . . . You're living a nomadic life, and you lose touch with people because they have grown away from you. People get older, get married, die — life is still going on."

SYSTEM's last two albums, "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize", were released in 2005.

DEFTONES has entered the studio to begin recording its seventh album for a late 2012 release.

2010's "Diamond Eyes" has been one of DEFTONES' most successful outings. The set's last single, "You've Seen The Butcher", was a Top 15 rock radio hit.

DEFTONES will once again record with Sergio Vega on bass. Vega stepped in for touring purposes after original bassist Chi Cheng was left in a semi-comatose state by a November 2008 car accident, and stayed on to record "Diamond Eyes" with the group.

Last October, Reprise Records released a limited-edition vinyl box set from DEFTONES. "Deftones: The Vinyl Collection, 1995 - 2011" is a seven-album (8 LP) retrospective containing the band's six studio albums — 1995's "Adrenaline", 1997's "Around The Fur", 2000's "White Pony", 2003's "Deftones", 2006's "Saturday Night Wrist", and 2010's "Diamond Eyes", and the limited-edition 2011 Record Store Day release "Covers". Each album was exclusively re-cut for vinyl from the original master recordings and pressed on 180-gram European virgin vinyl. The collection, which included a unique lithograph and cover art, came packaged in a hand-numbered collector's box pressing of 1,000 copies worldwide.