Knuckle up with…5 Finger Death Punch
By: Bean

Whether it's touring the vast lands on probably one of the best tour names ever 'Bitch We Have A Problem' with acts Korn, HELLYEAH and Droid to co-headlining the Guitar Hero 2 second stage at 2007s' Family Values Tour, Five Finger Death Punch have already left a lasting impression in just a short amount of time on the vast metal scene surface.

When you hear band names such as U.P.O, Motograter, W.A.S.P and Deadsett you probably wouldn't be thinking oh this could be huge, actually you quite possibly might think what I did at first and figure this is just a recipe for disaster. A few musicians getting together that have left their previous acts to make some quick money. However the teaming of Zoltan Bathory, Ivan Moody, Darrell Roberts, Jeremy Spencer and Matt Snell (Who has quite possibly one of the best beards in Rock N' Roll these days) has been anything but a disaster. In fact their debut album 'The Way Of The Fist' which was released around July the album broke into the Billboard 200 on it's first week of release, and also took the number three position on Billboard's New Artist/ Heatseekers chart.

“Man It's just been so overwhelming we're holding strong here at 16 on the top 100 and for a metal band and this day and age it's just un-heard of....we blame the stations like yours for pumping up the record and our fans picking up the album its really just jaw dropping” said Ivan.

From leaving Motorgrater to Five finger one thing that has changed is the obvious no more paint but when the guys started out it was a tight nit family like most beginning relationships. “We were like a tribe in the beginning but towards the end it seemed like everyone was just there for their own politics and it just got over saturated with it and I became very tired of it” added Ivan. “With the guys now I know I'm surrounded by four professionals and take themselves very seriously but at the same time want to have fun and not to just be out here to cut throats and just be musicians and to me that makes all the difference in the world”.

One way of making sure that people will take your project seriously is to sometimes bring on board as many big and successful names in the business and thats exactly what the boys did to prove they were to be taken seriously with this latest project. 'The Way Of The Fist' was recorded at Next Level Studios with Stevo “Shotgun” Bruno (Motley Crue) and Mike Sarkisyan (Spineshank) and was mastered and mixed from former Machinehead and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader. “We just wanted to make sure that this wasn't going to be overlooked and with myself and Zo being good friends with Mike it just seemed to be a perfect opportunity...we stacked the deck for sure, cause we just didn't want to end up losing with this” said Ivan.

For those that are not a Knucklehead and have never had the chance to take a listen at their music well number one what the hell are you waiting for and number two if you’re into the metal scene this album is about as honest as they come from a metal band. “Yeah I mean that is one of our big codes here the second it becomes anything but true it will be destroyed”. “We just want people to be a part of this, pick up the CD if you like it awesome...if not then pass it on to someone else...and if the album doesn't get you come to a live show I guarantee we'll stomp your faces in”!

The guys are out right now on tour as far as now until at least The early parts of March and will be hitting Las Vegas on February 23rd at Jillians with All That Remains, Chimaira and Light This City.

So come check the dudes out and get ready to get pummeled at this show. For all of you movie junkies you can check out Ivan in his upcoming performance in the movie 'Bled' which is a horror flick where he plays the creepy character of Incubus who is invoked by a substance known as 'strigios' a rare ancient sap that bleeds from a long forgotten tree. Ivan also has his other project Ghost Machine which mixes industrial, experimental and progressive rock you can check them out at www.myspace.com/ghostmachine1. See you all out there!