Consistent is one word that can definitely be used to describe Five Finger Death Punch. The band has released three albums so far in their career and all three have been certified gold, meaning sales of 500,000. Now, the word consistent can also apply to two different mindsets depending on which camp you belong to. If you are a knucklehead, a nickname for fans of the band, then it would be safe to say that you think the band has consistently delivered some of the best head banging music since their first album The Way of the Fist came out in 2007.
Then, there
are those who would say that the band has consistently put out some of the most
overrated music ever since the release of their debut album. It seems that the
band has developed a huge following of haters, which usually means that you are
doing something right. Would their new album The Wrong Side of Heaven and The
Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1 convert some haters or just fuel their fire?
Well, I think the answer to both questions would be yes. Let me dissect this
new album and hopefully you will understand.
Ivan Moody
and the boys open the album up with a track that has been all over rock radio,
“Lift Me Up”, which features guest vocals by the iconic Rob Halford of Judas
Priest. This is pretty damn near perfection for the boys. It has that chugging
guitar riff through it that you associate with the band and it’s infectious as
hell. Next up is “Watch You Bleed” and don’t let its acoustic guitar intro fool
you because this is no ballad. It doesn’t take too long for Jeremy Spencer’s
double kick drum sets in and takes over and it’s a full blown assault.
“You” is
definitely a stand-out track and it provides one of the most intense, rapid
fire vocal deliveries from Ivan Moody that I have ever heard. “The Wrong Side of Heaven” is up next and it
proves that the band has definitely perfected the modern age metal ballad.
“Burn MF” is a tender, emotional, heartfelt song (insert heavy sarcasm). This
should be another great song to perform live when the band hits the road,
complete with a great sing-a-long chorus.
“Anywhere but
Here” features a guest vocal appearance by Maria Brink of In This Moment. The
two bands definitely have ties together that go back quite a few years. Ivan
and Maria have also been trying to record a song together for quite some time
now, but the suits got in the way a time of two. It’s a great song, but I kind
of feel like Maria was underutilized on it. There are more guest appearances on
the album including Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. One of the most interesting
tracks would be the band’s cover of LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”. I
was really looking forward to this when I read about it, but it just doesn’t
blow me away. It features an appearance by Tech N9ne, but I think it would have
been much cooler if LL himself would have been on it.
Ivan mixes
up his vocals on here and delivers the lyrics just how you would expect him to.
The riffage from Jason Hook and Zoltan Bathory may very well be some of their
best work yet. Lastly, both certainly not least, would be the amazing rhythm
section of Jeremy Spencer on drums and Chris Kael on bass, who seem to hold it
all together and provide the underlying assault that sometimes gets overlooked
and underappreciated.
Overall, it
is definitely a very solid album and in time may prove to be their best one
yet. It has a harder, more aggressive edge to it than their last album American
Capitalist had. Will it convert some haters over to the land of being a
knucklehead? I think it’s strong enough of an album to do so, yet it is
definitely a huge dose of fuel for the fire for all of those haters out there.
I don’t think there is much anyone can do for some of them because they are
just always going to hate.
