Five Finger Death Punch

The Way Of The Fist

Written by: TL on 13/01/2009 00:52:59

Five Finger Death Punch is, if their promotion is to be believed, the next up and coming sensation in metal. Maybe that's why their debut album from 2006 "The Way Of The Fist" has been re-released here in early 09, but however, given how it already sounds quite dated, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to join in the hyping of this band.

Okay, so before I get all Gung-ho about slandering these guys, let's give them a little credit where credit is due. These boys know songwriting and they're not afraid to use it, and as such, their album is filled with songs that all boast of instantly recognizable and sensible song-structures, forming the bone upon which pseudo-thrashy and Pantera-inspired riffs sits as the meat. This is all good, as it allows for the listener to get into the groove and focus on the content of the music - or rather it would be good if focusing on the content at hand was actually desirable. This is not the case however, as the lyricism of this band is rather.. well.. embarrasing - But then what did you expect of a band that apparently found "Five Finger Death Punch" to be a cool bandname.

Take "Salvation" as an example, that basically goes about flogging a pretty dead horse in bashing religion in a way that's more self-righteous than it's convincing, pretty much setting the standard for the one-dimensional macho bullshit we're served throughout. That lyrics aren't of paramount importance can of course be argued, but if that doesn't turn you off, the slavish Killswitch Engage-ish screamed verse/clean chorus formula might after a few tracks, and the clean vocals that sound like Matt Heafy on a bad day should definetely do the trick if all else fails. As for the guitar work, sure, there's some catchy stuff here and there, but mostly I'm wondering what the second guitar is doing, as the soundscape is simply a bit too shallow and polished compared to that of... - I want to say a "real" metal band, but maybe that's a bit too harsh. You be the judge.

In any case, I think you've got my point by now. This is pseudo-heavy, pseudo-aggressive stuff that most enlightened heavy metallers wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, which basically leaves only the fans of super shallow stuff like Disturbed left to like it, but then that might just end up being perfect, since the lyrical content might actually also just be exactly on their level. I'm not a fan, enough said.

Download: The Way Of The Fist, Salvation, Death Before Dishonor
For The Fans Of: Disturbed, Killswitch Engage
Listen: myspace.com/ffdp

Release Date 19.01.2009
Spinefarm/Universal Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.