System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan has issued the following update on Scars On Broadway, his new project with SOAD's Daron Malakian (guitarist, vocalist, songwriter):

"Yesterday [Thursday, Sept. 27], Daron and I began recording Scars On Broadway debut album. We've gone in with close to 18 songs. The music is expansive, experimental, and sometimes in your face...

"We're very excited to get it down and get it out to all of you."

Malakian co-produced (with Rick Rubin) System Of A Down's multi-platinum albums "Toxicity" (2001) and the dual-disc "Mezmerize/Hypnotize" (2005), all three of which hit the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 chart.

System Of A Down has been on hiatus since last year, with its members working on various side projects. This has naturally led to rumors that the band was breaking up permanently. But bassist Shavo Odadjian told The Pulse of Radio that System Of A Down is far from over. " is alive and well," he said. "We're just not working together right now. We kind of like split up at first, but you know, we're brothers, man, we'll take bullets for each other. So it's like, you kind of miss each other after a while and you, one guy makes the first move, then another starts making phone calls....this is a juggernaut, man. SystemSystem Of A Down is my lifeline. It'll never go away. We could not make a record for 10 years — that's not gonna happen, but I'm just saying we could — and we'll come back strong."

System Of A Down vocalist Serj Tankian will release his first solo CD, titled "Elect the Dead", on October 23.