Five Finger Death Punch
Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, guitarists Zoltan Bathory and Caleb Andrew Bingham, bassist Matt Snell, and drummer Jeremy Spencer. Bingham was replaced by guitarist Darrell Roberts in 2006, who was then replaced by Jason Hook in 2009. Bassist Matt Snell departed from the band in 2010, and was replaced by Chris Kael in 2011. Spencer then departed the band in 2018 due to recurring back issues, and was replaced by Charlie Engen, making Bathory and Moody the only members to appear on every album. In October 2020, British guitarist Andy James became the band's lead guitarist, replacing Jason Hook.
Five Finger Death Punch's debut album The Way of the Fist was released in 2007, which achieved rapid success and sold over 500,000 copies in the United States. The 2009 follow-up album War Is the Answer further increased their popularity, selling over 1,000,000 copies and being certified Platinum by the RIAA, the band's third album, American Capitalist, was released on October 11, 2011, and achieved Platinum status. The following four albums—The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2, Got Your Six, and And Justice for None —have all been certified Platinum or Gold, making Five Finger Death Punch one of the most successful heavy metal bands of the decade. The band has played international music festivals including Mayhem Festival in 2008, 2010, and 2013, and Download Festival in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2017. The band released their eighth studio album, F8, in 2020 and their ninth album AfterLife was released in 2022.
Five Finger Death Punch are the recipients of the RadioContraband Rock Radio Awards for "Indie Artist of the Year" in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. They were also honored with the Radio Contraband Rock Radio Award for Album and Song of the Year in 2012 and "Video of the Year" for "Wrong Side of Heaven" in 2014. As of 2025, Five Finger Death Punch has released nine studio albums, one live album, four compilation albums, one extended play, and 33 singles.
In 2025, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included the band in his list of "the greatest metal acts that formed in the 2000s".
History
Formation, ''The Way of the Fist'' and Roberts' departure (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. Guitarist Zoltan Bathory commented on the band's name: "The name of the band has to have some kind of effect. It doesn't have to be positive. It doesn't have to be, like, 'That's the greatest name in the world!' It can be, 'Oh my god, that's the dumbest fucking shit I ever heard!' Equally good, because it got a reaction. I mean, I don't think you can beat Five Finger Death Punch. That's probably the worst fucking name. In fact, we almost changed it, but then Ivan came in and said, 'That's the best name ever, they're gonna fucking hate it! Keep it! That's fucking ridiculous!"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 to 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 rumored to have been fired; the split was confirmed a few days later, and Roberts 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 U.S. 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.
Snell's departure and ''American Capitalist'' (2010–2012)
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 to 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.