After years of silence and speculation, Daron Malakian is back — and he’s not interested in playing it safe. Addicted to the Violence, the third album from his solo project Scars On Broadway, dropped this week and it’s easily his most intense work since System Of A Down’s heyday.

Written over the span of two decades, the album captures the mood of a world spiraling into chaos. “It’s not even like I try to write political songs,” Malakian said in his latest interview. “But when you look around, how can you not react?” Tracks like “Killing Spree” and “The King Of Hearts Is Off His Meds” come across less like political manifestos and more like frantic dispatches from inside the machine.

Musically, the album is fast, jagged, and grimy. There’s little polish — by design. “I didn’t want it to sound perfect. It’s not that kind of album,” he says. Fans of Mezmerize-era System Of A Down will recognize the wild tempo shifts and manic vocal layering, but Daron Malakian makes it clear: this isn’t a System side project — it’s his own firestorm.

Addicted to the Violence also marks Daron Malakian’s first time fronting an official band lineup under the Scars banner. A South American tour is already in the works, and Malakian says he’s “ready to play these songs live and loud.”

Still, the question looms: what about System? “I’ve stopped waiting,” he says. “This is where my energy’s going now.”

If Dictator was Malakian’s angry shrug, Addicted to the Violence is a clenched fist. It’s the sound of someone who’s done explaining himself — and finally letting the chaos out.