Review Summary: Incredibly simple, unbelievably stupid, and only very occasionally catchy.
"True metal." This is what Five Finger Death Punch call themselves, and that statement means absolutely nothing. What constitutes "True metal?" And who do FFDP think the are calling themselves that, with their formulaic, repetitive songs full of faux-tough guy lyrics? FFDP is a "supergroup" comprised of members from Motograter (a third-tier nu-metal band,) W.A.S.P. (a second-tier 80's metal band,) and U.P.O. (a bottom-tier post-grunge band,) who play angry trailer-park metal for people who don't care about lyrics or creativity.
The entire album sounds the same, save for a couple of throwaway ballads. Every song follows the same stale pattern, and as a result, the album bleeds together. Instrumentally, it is fairly simple, and most songs are just fast chugging with a solo thrown in. The solos are the only saving grace on this album, as they are the only thing of considerable skill done here, and the only thing that keeps this album from being complete rubbish. Unfortunately, there are no real stand-out tracks to keep the listener interested. A few good ideas are thrown around in "Bulletproof" and the title track, but nothing that will amaze.
Now, the lyrics on this album are continually laughable and never fail to amuse. The following is from "Burn it Down":
You think you know me
You don’t know ***
I’ve seen the world through your eyes
And it makes me sick
I question all of your answers
They’re ***in' lies
I won’t conform to your system
I’d rather die
I burn it down
I know, a regular Bill Shakespeare. Lead vocalist Ivan Moody, as he did on their debut, dwells on this angry teenager angst, and apparently feels that whenever something goes wrong, the culprit must be punched. Girlfriends, backstabbing friends, politicians, toasters, etc. There is nothing that he isn't angry about, he is the Hulk of commercial metal. He doesn't believe in metaphors, but he does believe in the f-bomb.
All in all, this album has all the makings of going platinum.......if this was 2001. Unfortunately, a few nifty solos does not an album make, and the band fails on almost every other level. The immaturity displayed on the album by members who have been around the music business awhile is troubling, because these are grown men, probably staring down at forty, with lyrics that echo a twelve year old banished to the front of the school bus. There are better bands out there that sound similar, like Sevendust and Black Label Society, and these bands also do it better. Everything about this album feels stale, outdated, and derivative, and as a result,
War Is The Answer never comes together.
