Five Finger Death Punch

Five Finger Death Punch are an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2005, the group's name is derived from classic oriental martial arts cinema. The band originally consisted of former Motograter vocalist Ivan Moody, former U.P.O. guitarist Zoltan Bathory, guitarist Caleb Bingham, former Deadsett bassist Matt Snell, and former W.A.S.P. drummer Jeremy Spencer. Bingham was replaced by former W.A.S.P. guitarist Darrell Roberts in 2006, who was replaced by former Alice Cooper guitarist Jason Hook in 2009.
They achieved commercial success rapidly: their debut album, The Way of the Fist (2007) has currently sold over 450,000 copies in the United States. Their second album, War Is the Answer (2009), sold more than 44,000 copies in its first week of release, and has gone on to sell more than 360,000 copies. They have released five top ten singles: "The Bleeding", "Never Enough", "Hard to See", "Walk Away" and "Bad Company".
They have played many major tours and festivals including playing on the Jägermeister Stage (second stage) at Mayhem Festival in 2008 and the main stage at Mayhem Festival in 2010. They made performances at Download Festival during both 2009 and 2010. They supported Korn on their Family Values and Bitch We Have a Problem tours, Disturbed on their 2008 Indestructible tour and Godsmack on their 2010 The Oracle tour.
Five Finger Death Punch was founded in 2005 by former U.P.O. guitarist Zoltan Bathory. By the end of 2005 former W.A.S.P. drummer Jeremy Spencer and former Anubis Rising and Deadsett bassist Matt Snell had joined the band. In early 2006 Bathory contacted former Motograter vocalist Ivan Moody about joining the band. Moody flew from his home in Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles to audition for the group and was quickly accepted.
Five Finger Death Punch entered Next Level Studios and Complex Studios in Los Angeles, California to record their debut album, The Way of the Fist. The album was recorded with Stevo "Shotgun" Bruno and Mike Sarkisyan and was mixed by former Machine Head and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader. After the album was recorded, guitarist Caleb Bingham joined the band, but was quickly replaced by former W.A.S.P. guitarist Darrell Roberts. Shortly after, they signed a 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 Way of the Fist was released on July 31, 2007 selling 3,800 copies in its first week, it debuted at #199 on the Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "The Bleeding", released on July 13, 2007, quickly charted in the top ten and received much radio airplay.
From July 30th through 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 22nd until October 27, 2007. They were set to tour with Chimaira and All That Remains from January through March 2008, but due to vocalist Ivan 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 3 new 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 left the band and was replaced by former Alice Cooper guitarist Jason Hook. They ended their support for their first album playing the main stage at the 2009 Download Festival.
War Is the Answer was announced as Five Finger Death Punch's second studio album in May 2009. The album was produced by Kevin Churko, who had previously produced Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain, and mixed by Randy Staub, who previously had worked with Metallica and Stone Sour. The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, selling over 44,000 copies in its first week of release. The first single from the album, "Hard to See" was released on July 21, 2010 and entered US rock radio's top 10 after only a couple of weeks on the charts. 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", 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 United States troops. The band's cover of Bad Company's song "Bad Company" was released as the fifth single off of 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 10th 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 Five Finger Death Punch released "Far from Home" as the sixth single from War Is the Answer. They supported Godsmack on their "The Oracle 2010" tour from October 3rd through November 4, 2010.
The band entered the studio to record their third album in November 2010. The album has a tentative release date for April or May 2011 and will be produced by Kevin Churko, who also produced the band's previous album, War Is the Answer.

Members

Current:
• Zoltan Bathory – guitars (2005-present)
• Jason Hook – guitars, backing vocals (2009-present)
• Ivan Moody – vocals (2006-present)
• Matt Snell – bass, backing vocals (2006-present)
• Jeremy Spencer – drums (2005-present)
Former:
• Caleb Bingham – guitars (2005–2006)
• Darrell Roberts – guitars, backing vocals (2006–2009)

Official Website: http://www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com/