You can check out a new Five Finger Death Punch track from their sophomore album ‘War Is The Answer’ here…

Check out the new track here.

Frontman Zoltan Bathory told us: “There’s a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense. There’s some epic moments on the record, and there’s some straight-up home-wreckers, too. All I can say is, those who liked our first album are going to LOVE this one!” he says Guitarist Zoltan Bathory The album will follow up its 2007 debut, ‘The Way Of The Fist’, which has sold around 336,000 copies in the US.

The album is due for release on 6th October on Prospect Park Records and was produced by Kevin Churko and mixed by Randy Staub.

Here is our recent feature with the band:
“We have been called the new Pantera and Slipknot by other people, but I’d never presume to make such comparisons,” says guitarist Zoltan Bathory. “You’re talking about all-time great metal bands there. I suppose those comparison comes from the fact that we do down-tune. However, I’m happy if people see us in this way – it’s a huge compliment.”
Born in Hungary in 1978, Bathory grew up on the classic sounds of metal, and they still stick with him to this day.
“Iron Maiden and Accept were my heroes, and remain so. I was also heavily into the German thrash scene at the time, so you hear some of that in the Five Finger Death Punch style.”
The guitarist left Hungary when he was about 20 years old, deciding that his future, in every respect, lay in America.
“At the time, Communism was collapsing, and nobody knew where the country was headed. It seemed to be the right time to get out. So I headed to Los Angeles. Back then, I was in a band called Soundskull, and all of us moved over to America. We got a deal with a US label, and things looked like they were really going well for us. But then we spent a year working on a record which never came out. The band just disintegrated.”
Bathory then briefly joined post-grunge band U.P.O. – as their bassist!
“They’d just released their second album, The Heavy, in 2004, and needed a new bassist, when the guy they had at the time quit. Now, I knew them all well, and was a fan of singer Shawn Albro’s voice. But, after a year touring, I decided to quit. I wanted to play guitar again and, more importantly, I wanted to do my own thing rather than follow someone else’s ideas.”
So, Bathory wrote an album’s worth of songs cast in his metallic image, and then set about finding the right musicians to share his vision.
“I was really lucky, because I drew up a wish list of people to give to Santa – these are the guys I wanted in the band, and I got them all!”
In 2005, Five Finger Death Punch formed around Bathory. There was drummer Jeremy Spencer, guitarist Darrell Roberts, bassist Matt Snell and vocalist Ivan Moody.
“The first person I had on my list was Jeremy – I’d seen him play live with one of his former bands and he was amazing. Now, Jeremy had been with W.A.S.P. for all of two minutes, but brought Darrell along with him. Ivan I’d seen fronting Motograter, and Matt had been in Anubis Rising and Deadsett. And it all gelled very quickly.”
FFDP recorded the aforementioned debut album in 2006 with co-producers Steve ‘Shotgun’ Bruno and Spineshank guitarist Mike Sarkisyan, with the mixing done by Logan Mader, It was released in America at the end of July, 2007, and to date has sold 250,000 copies there. An impressive start. This has been augmented by a tireless touring schedule in the US.
“Right now, we are doing our seventh tour of the country since June 2007,” laughs Bathory.
Apart from their own headlining dates, FFDP have done a tour with Disturbed, played on the ’07 Family Values trek, done the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival (with Slipknot, Disturbed, Machine Head and Dragonforce) and also shared the bill with Korn and Hellyeah on the Bitch We Have a Problem tour. It’s been a hectic, breathless regime.
“The importance of it all is that this has got us to so many people. We’ve done over 300 shows so far and are virtually living on the road. Sometimes I forget where home is – I suppose you could say that wherever I lay my hat, that’s where I live for the moment.”
Now the UK is preparing for a Death Punch onslaught. The Way Of The Fist finally gets a release here in March, with the band part of the Hammer-sponsored Defenders Of The Faith II tour the previous month, alongside co-headliners Lamb Of God and Dimmu Borgir.
“It’s really special to be part of such a great bill. Two amazing bands, and us. What a way to introduce the band to a British audience. And, as I’m from Europe it’s also something of a homecoming for me. I know it’s not Hungary, but I have so much respect for the UK and what it stands for musically, that it’ll be a privilege to get in front of the fans and play.
“I also grew up reading Metal Hammer and putting those posters on my walls. It taught me a lot about metal, so now I get the chance of be on a tour sponsored by the magazine – a dream come true.”
How does Bathory feel about playing songs from an album that’s over 18 months old to audiences who won’t really have heard it before?
“It’s a great challenge. Everyone – us, our management (The Firm) and label (Firm Music/EMI) – decided in 2007 that we’d concentrate on establishing ourselves in America before reaching out and fighting wars in other territories. It’s worked so far, and I hope it carries on that way.”
Five Finger Death Punch are writing songs for a new album, although they’ve not yet set a recording schedule. However, this time it’s a band collaboration.
“Everyone’s involved in the process this time. I’m not just handing out the songs in a finished form. However, each band needs a leader and a vision, right. I suppose you’d be right in saying that I am still the boss – in a democratic way!”