System of a Down Album Hiatus (2006–2010)

In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview withGuitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take some rest.

May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.

Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan. System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when.

Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store. Odadjian pursued his project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton's backing band.

Shavo Odadjian told Launch Radio Networks in 2007 that System of a Down was "alive and well," but just were not working together.

In an April 2008 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Malakian and Dolmayan gave their takes on the band's future. When told that many people were wondering what the future of the band was, Malakian responded by stating that "We'll all know when the time is right." Dolmayan added, "It'll just happen."

In an interview with Tankian about Big Day Out 2009 (a show which involved playing his Elect the Dead album live with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and a few songs from his then-upcoming second studio album) Tankian stated, "Every few months I am honored to hear interesting rumors about whether the band is going to tour or break up permanently. I find them all to be very entertaining."

On October 31, 2009, Odadjian threw a Halloween party at the Roxy during which he, Malakian, and Dolmayan performed "Suite-Pee" (off System of a Down), Scars on Broadway's "They Say," and an unknown song. Franky Perez from Scars on Broadway joined them for these songs. This performance was followed by another partial reunion of the band on November 20, 2009, at the Avalon in Hollywood during which Malakian, Dolmayan, and Odadjian played at a show benefiting bassist Chi Cheng and played hits "Aerials" and "Toxicity." They were joined by Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno for these songs.

On January 11, 2010, Odadjian posted on his official Twitter account, "Are you guys ready for System?" This statement was picked up by the media and fans as a potential reunion announcement. However, two days after that, in an interview with Billboard, Tankian stated that System of a Down was still on an indefinite hiatus while adding "We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet".

In July 2010, Dolmayan was interviewed and said the band would most likely tour in 2011, although at the time there were no official or concrete plans. This caused further speculation and rumors of a reunion.

On August 12, 2010, while in Yerevan‎, Armenia for a solo performance, Tankian said that a System of a Down concert in Yerevan may be a good idea. However, in a later interview, he said the band had no plans to reunite.

On August 31, 2010, in an interview with Tankian by Gibson, Tankian said that “If we decide to [reunite], the first people to find out will be our fans, on the website. We’ve all agreed that as a band. but later Tankian said they had not talked about reuniting.