Five Finger Death Punch

Formation and The Way of the Fist (2005–2009)

Five Finger Death Punch was founded in 2005 by former U.P.O. bassist Zoltan Bathory and drummer Jeremy Spencer, Zoltan deriving the band's name from classic martial arts cinema. Bassist Matt Snell joined in early 2006. Later that year, Bathory contacted former Motograter vocalist Ivan Moody, sending him some of the material the band had recorded and asked him to audition for the vocalist position. Moody flew from his home in Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles and quickly began recording material with the band.

By the end of 2006, their debut album, The Way of the Fist had been recorded and entirely self-produced. The album was recorded with Stevo "Shotgun" Bruno and Mike Sarkisyan and was mixed by guitarist Logan Mader. After searching for a second guitarist, they found Caleb Bingham who played some shows with the band, but was later replaced by Darrell Roberts. Shortly after recording the album, they signed a record deal with Firm Music, a branch of "The Firm". On July 10, 2007, they released an EP, Pre-Emptive Strike exclusively through the American iTunes Store. The album's lead single, "The Bleeding", was released on July 13, 2007. The Way of the Fist was released on July 31, 2007. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 199 and was certified gold in 2011.

From July 30 – September 2, 2007, the band went on their first major tour cycle as one of the supporting acts on Korn's Family Values Tour. They were also a supporting act of the North American leg of Korn's Bitch We Have a Problem Tour from September 22 – October 27, 2007. They were set to tour with Chimaira and All That Remains from January through March 2008, but due to singer Moody developing cysts on his vocal cords they were forced to pull out. He made a full recovery and they began to tour again. They supported Disturbed on their Indestructible US Tour from April through May 2008.

The Way of the Fist was re-released on May 13, 2008, with 3 bonus tracks. One of the bonus tracks, "Never Enough" was released as the album's second single on July 15, 2008. Later that year they were a part of the 2008 Mayhem Festival playing the Jägermeister Stage. The third single from The Way of the Fist, "Stranger Than Fiction" was released on September 17, 2008. The Way of the Fist was released through Spinefarm Records in Canada on November 4, 2008, and in Europe on January 19, 2009. In January 2009 Darrell Roberts was asked to leave the band and was replaced by guitarist Jason Hook. They ended their support for their first album playing the main stage at the 2009 Download Festival.

War Is the Answer (2009–2010)

In May 2009, Five Finger Death Punch announced their second studio album, War Is the Answer. The album was produced by Kevin Churko and mixed by Randy Staub. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The first single from the album, "Hard to See", was released on July 21, 2009. To promote War Is the Answer, Five Finger Death Punch embarked on "The Shock and Raw" US Tour. Main support on the tour was provided by Shadows Fall, with additional support coming from Otep and 2Cents. Upon completing the US run of the tour, Five Finger Death Punch then brought the Shock and Raw tour to Europe, finishing off with a run of dates in the UK. Main support for these dates was again Shadows Fall, and opening acts for the UK portion of the tour were Rise To Remain and Magnacult.

The second single from War Is the Answer, "Walk Away", was released on November 2, 2009. The album also spawned two UK-only singles, "Dying Breed", released on November 16, 2009, and "No One Gets Left Behind", released on March 8, 2010. During March 2010, Five Finger Death Punch traveled to Iraq and played 10 shows for the United States troops. The band's cover of Bad Company's self-titled song was released as the fifth single from War Is the Answer on May 17, 2010. On their way to perform at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Zoltan Bathory, Matt Snell and Jeremy Spencer were detained by German police for alleged international weapons violations. After recognizing the event as a misunderstanding, German police released the band members and they appeared at both Rock im Park on June 4, 2010 and Rock am Ring June 6, 2010 as scheduled.

Five Finger Death Punch also played the Maurice Jones Main Stage at the 2010 Download Festival on June 12, 2010. While playing the song "Dying Breed", their set was cut due to too many people crowd surfing up to the stage. They were allowed to play one final song, "The Bleeding". They played the main stage at Mayhem Festival 2010 with Korn, Rob Zombie and Lamb of God from July 10 until August 14, 2010. On August 17, 2010 they performed the songs "Bad Company" and "Hard to See" on the ABC show Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On September 16, 2010, The band released "Far from Home" as the sixth single from War Is the Answer. They supported Godsmack on their "The Oracle 2010" tour from October 3 – November 4, 2010. The song, "Dying Breed" was featured on the soundtrack for Namco Bandai Games' remake of Splatterhouse, released on November 23, 2010.

American Capitalist (2010–2013)

The band began to record their third studio album in November 2010 at The Hideout studios in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bassist Matt Snell departed from the band in December 2010, and in June 2011, Chris Kael was announced as Snell's replacement. The band's third album, titled American Capitalist, was released October 11, 2011. Production for the album was handled again by Kevin Churko. The first single from American Capitalist, entitled "Under and Over It", was released on July 27, 2011, following a music video in September 2011. In support of the album, Five Finger Death Punch embarked on their "Share the Welt" tour from October 16 – December 14, 2011 with support from All That Remains, Hatebreed and Rains and their "Furious and Deadly" tour from March 23 – April 12, 2012 with support from Soulfly, Windowpane, and Persist. The song "Back For More" is included on the soundtrack for the video game Madden NFL 12. "Back for More" was released as a digital single on September 13, 2011. "Remember Everything" was released as the second official single for American Capitalist in November 2011, with a music video following in February 2012. "Coming Down" was released as the third official single from American Capitalist in April 2012, with a music video, directed by Nick Peterson, following in June 2012. The song also won the band an Independent Music Award in 2013 for Best Metal/Hardcore Song.

From July 13 – August 28, 2012, Five Finger Death Punch took part in Metal Hammer's "Trespass America Festival" with support from Battlecross, God Forbid, Emmure, Pop Evil, Trivium and Killswitch Engage.

The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell (2013–2015)

On February 15, 2013, Five Finger Death Punch stated on Facebook that they were working on a fourth album, due in the summer. On February 28, the band posted a picture on Facebook of Moody recording vocals for the album. On March 12, an update video was posted to YouTube. On March 18, the band was announced to be playing Mayhem Festival 2013. On March 18, Five Finger Death Punch posted a promotional video for their next tour with a new song "Here to Die".

On May 1, 2013, Five Finger Death Punch announced the release of their next two studio albums collectively titled The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell with Volume 1 being released on July 30, and Volume 2 following on November 19. During the fifth annual Golden Gods Awards, Five Finger Death Punch performed a new song with Rob Halford of Judas Priest entitled "Lift Me Up". The song was released as a single on May 14.

On June 6, Five Finger Death Punch revealed the artwork for The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1 and also released a snippet of future single "Dot Your Eyes" Volume 1 reached the #2 position on the Billboard 200 with 113,000 copies sold in its first week, making it the band's most successful debut to date. The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 has sold over 210,000 copies as of August 2013.

On September 9, 2013, Five Finger Death Punch released a new single: "Battle Born", in anticipation of their fifth studio album The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2. It sold 77,000 copies in its first week, and once again landed in the number 2 position on the Billboard 200.

On August 11, 2014, Five Finger Death Punch released a video for the song "Wrong Side of Heaven". The video is about homeless veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI and depression after serving in the military, and not receiving the help they need despite this.

Got Your Six (2015–2017)

On December 12, 2013, Five Finger Death Punch revealed in a radio interview that they had already begun working on a sixth studio album.

On January 14, 2015, Five Finger Death Punch announced US Spring headline tour dates from April 25 to May 9, 2015 and their intention to enter the studio to write and record a new album.

On May 2, 2015, the band released the title of their sixth album, Got Your Six as well as a teaser for a new song titled "Ain't My Last Dance" on their official Facebook page. The album, which was slated for release on August 28, 2015, was later pushed back by a week.

On May 19, 2015, the band announced a co-headlining North American Tour with Papa Roach to promote the upcoming album and were accompanied by In This Moment as special guests with support from From Ashes To New for the tour. The band also performed on the main stage as part of Download Festival 2015.

Seventh studio album (2017-present)

On April 27, 2016, Billboard reported that Five Finger Death Punch's record label Prospect Park had filed a lawsuit against the band on April 21, 2016 for breaching their contract. The basis of the claim cites that the band began working on a new album without Prospect Park's consent.

Musical style and influences

Five Finger Death Punch has been described as heavy metal, groove metal, thrash metal, alternative metal and hard rock. Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that Five Finger Death Punch's "instantly recognizable sound is comprised of equal parts melodic and meaty guitar riffs, fat vamps, catchy hooks, tight, flashy solos, and hard-grooving bass and drums". Five Finger Death Punch vocalist Ivan Moody's vocals are usually singing and screaming. Five Finger Death Punch also occasionally play ballads.

Bathory described Five Finger Death Punch as "a straight-up heavy metal band with a hint of thrash metal — maybe a hint of the Euro stuff in there" and then said, "that's pretty much what we are". Spencer described Five Finger Death Punch as "kind of like stepping on a garden rake while looking at a supermodel. Blissful yet fucking devastating". He then said, "We have an energy and a rhythmical style that's different than what's happening out there. We have songs that grab you and stay with you and rip your face off. Hooks, balls, melodies and energy — that's us".

Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory cited Pantera as an influence. Ivan Moody cited vocalists such as Mike Patton, Phil Anselmo, Layne Staley and Lynn Strait as influences. Moody also said, "Pantera is one of our biggest influences". Jeremy Spencer cited drummers such as Lars Ulrich, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Dave Grohl, Buddy Rich and Tommy Aldridge as influences. Spencer also cited Prince and David Bowie as influences.

Band members

Touring members

Discography

Accolades

Revolver Golden Gods Awards

Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards

Kerrang! Awards

Radio Contraband Rock Radio Awards

Bandit Rock Awards

Loudwire Music Awards

SiriusXM Octane Music Awards

iHeartRadio Music Awards