Five Fingers Metal Punch

Everybody needs a space to whine about stuff.  Some make it a professional action. When you watch documentaries about music, especially heavy metal, people usually tell how music helps them to overcome difficulties of life, feeling of being different. So, if you simplify it - people whine about life. But instead of complaining to their friends, they turn on some music to listen to how a big strong man does the same with guitar and mic, looks awesome and makes quite a cool impression.  This indeed helps! If Ivan Moody from Five Fingers Death Punch can complain about life to the whole stadium, can’t I do that? Five Fingers Death Punch, lady and gentlemen, the most brutal self-reflective American band.

Of course, I’m kidding a little bit. But just a little. Turn on a song Wash it All Away. The music video for this song on YouTube is gorgeous, brutal, and cool! It provides an image of a successful manly man who drives a red Dodge Viper and plays a red electric guitar. Who wouldn’t want it? But the song itself is a prayer for somebody to come and help.  Something might be twisted here. Yeah, Ivan sings about society's problems, a social disease he calls it. Too much pressure and demand for stupid not-needed things. I get it. But why wait for somebody? You are a big boy, you can rule your life.

Anyway, the music is amazing, to be honest. It is powerful and mighty. It fills up the whole space around and lifts you almost physically. 10 years ago I considered it too heavy and didn’t listen except a couple of songs. Now I can handle it very well. Musicians are very professional, they know how to keep a balance between brutal loud distortion and beautiful melodies built into the main theme. They know how to give the vocalist space, but not shut down the music. And they look manly! Not scary, but manfully.

When I heard it for the very first time, I thought - nice project. I didn’t know anything about them, but they seemed to be a crafted project to me. I mean, some groups weren’t born naturally but were found by producers specifically to play certain music and fill a certain niche in the music area. I imagined Five Fingers as one of those because they did music very professionally. How they look and how the play is not combined in my head till today.  It’s like a homeless person who crafts the best-ever restaurant dish. It is possible, but who met it in real life? 

This feeling is not too far away from the truth. The band was formed by Zoltan Bathory from Hungary, former guitarist of another metal band, in Las Vegas. This Hungarian is crazy about Kung Fu martial arts. There was a legend that a master of Kung Fu could defeat an enemy with a single Death Punch. This was a reason for such a weirdly unique name for a band. Zoltan says in an interview - We started in 2005 and I recruited the rest of the members. Unlike other bands, we didn’t know each other before we started the band. I specifically looked for people who could fulfill my musical expectations. To me, this is how a good successful company could be started. There is a positive team dynamic, based on skills and common interests, rather than old-time friendship.

I heard a story about how their vocalist joined them.  He told it in a video. Zoltan was looking for a vocalist and called Ivan after watching him at some music fest. The night before the audition he spent in a bar, got drunk, and ended up in a bar fight. One of his rivals took a razor blade and cut Ivan several times in the face and belly. This way, covered with plasters, he showed up for an audition in the morning. There was an offer, but the band insisted on stopping bar fights.

I started by talking about legitimate whining. But this band is much more than that for sure. I greatly respect their songs dedicated to military people. The band somehow touches the feelings of such people. Especially when they are dismissed from the service without reason to live and with all the ghosts from the past flying around. It is a really hard topic. You can blame military forces for anything, but when it is about the real people who just did their jobs - it's not so simple anymore. Listen Far From Home song. The very first time I almost cried. I believe, lots of nomad people now would find something familiar in it, being far from home.

Who knows what kind of problems these musicians face in real life, who they deal with being celebrities, tough tour schedules, lots of fun, glory and I guess hate and jealousy as well. About a year ago number of concerts were canceled because of the health issues of a vocalist. Some time after that a new song about alcohol addiction was released. Draw your conclusions. At the end of the day, no matter is it whining or not, Five Fingers Death Punch is about self-reflection to me, no matter how ugly it could be.