Five Finger Death Punch
American Capitalist

The Five Finger Death Punch, a groove band riding high for a few years now. This time, many of you know what I’m talking about (but I'm already preparing an unknown new review): for better or for worse, 5FDP have become a staple of the modern metal scene, and so far they've gotten more successful with each album. Strange that here on DeBaser there's only one review, of the first album, written (and well) by Gallagher87, which I invite you to read to learn more about the band, so that I don't dwell on it much. I just want to say that the band, originating from the USA, has top quality elements: from drummer Jeremy Spencer, a master of the double bass, to singer Ivan Moody, with his distinctive voice suitable for multiple registers, not forgetting the talented guitarist duo Hook-Bathory and the bearded Chris Kael with his powerful bass. The conditions to do well are there, and that is what they’ve done: but today I will talk about the third album, "American Capitalist", and not the second "War Is The Answer", which I might revisit. But if you want to review it, go ahead, as we are (hopefully) in a democracy.

"American Capitalist" comes in a giant case, including a CD, a remix CD (which as a die-hard metalhead I find absolutely useless), a foldable sheet with incredibly awkward lyrics written on its entire length and photos of the band members looking like rich folks, and a Hollywood-style poster where the album is presented as if it were a movie, an aspect also visible on the cover, with writings like "5FDP strikes again, with their latest offering American Capitalist". All of this is nice, but in the end we only care about the music, right? So let’s get to the 11 songs of this album that, following Five Finger Death Punch’s classic style, adhere to their usual "badass verse-catchy chorus" structure, but still propose some variations on the theme that result in a small step towards the latest double album released, "The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Ecc. Ecc.", even more varied (almost 40 songs, after all). That’s why I find it hard to leave any out, but I'll see what I can do.

Let's say the title track that opens the album is the perfect summary of everything I have said so far, though not yet the best, even as it proposes quite a bit of ferocity, which extends to the various insults hurled in the lyrics; these stay mainly focused on war, which we can infer from recurring phrases like "only the strong survive" and "life never favoured weakness". "The Pride" is similar, but with a much more convincing chorus (from which, incidentally, I derived these phrases), and I think it deserves a prime spot, alongside the seventh track "Back For More", which boasts a splendid solo with a good change of pace, along with the now-usual chorus. Among the "variations on the theme" I mentioned earlier, I think it’s necessary to cite three songs that slow the pace but still remain among the best: "Coming Down" and "If I Fall" present heavy elements, without accelerating everything, so that these tracks somehow break the flow of the album, since otherwise we'd really be talking about one big copy-and-paste; the fact that they are strategically always placed between two heavy pieces then reinforces this effect. Another plus is certainly the lyrics, which in these cases move away from wartime settings to adapt to the situations, a tendency not much followed so far (except "Far From Home" from the second album) that leads 5FDP on the aforementioned path of change, a term understood obviously in its proper context. And all this is even more evident in the third of these songs, which definitely approaches the standards, but not entirely new as mentioned, of the ballad: "Remember Everything". Listening to it without having the lyrics in hand (or comprehending them by ear, which isn’t so difficult) makes you lose many of the emotions inherent in the eighth track of the album, which tells us in the first person the story of a man apologizing to his family for... we are not given to know exactly, there are different motivations for each member. I recognize the chorus is not the best I’ve ever heard, though I like it a lot, but the heart of the song lies in the verses, which, structured in "Dear (member), please (forgive me/do not hate me), (reason)" and sung by an unusually poetic Moody, manage to communicate those emotions to me. Then here and there we find interesting points and episodes, like "Under And Over It" and "Generation Dead" to cite two, still pleasant enough to listen to, which carry the album forward without praise or blame.

In short, I knew what I would find, accustomed to the standards of the Los Angeles quintet, when in England for unknown reasons I preferred it to "War Is The Answer". I must say that, though a bit hesitant at first, I found myself admitting it was the right choice, given that this is an album I had barely considered extensively until then. Not much more to say, whether you like or dislike Five Finger Death Punch, they’re out there and it seems they have no intention of fading away for now. And I’m glad for it.