Review Summary: Lyrically, it may actually be their worst yet (and that's saying a lot). On a musical level, however, it continues to deliver for the most part.
Five Finger Death Punch can almost be considered as another Limp Bizkit in a couple of senses. On a musical level, they're actually quite talented (even if unoriginal) and both have strong guitarists and FFDP has a good drummer as well. But what makes them both infamous in the eyes of many? Their vocalists. Both of them being egotistical punks who have a serious problem with writing uninspired lyrics--often about how they think they're all that and they'll blow anyone's brains out who says otherwise. But man, does the music sound good (most of the time).
On a lyrical level, FFDP's lyrics have never been particularly good. As hard as it is to believe, Got Your Six may actually be a new low for them. The opening title track beings with "Charge!" and then it just goes from there in a pretty poor attempt to be a war-cry song. "Jekyll & Hyde," on the other hand, is a perfect example of a song that sounds pretty groovy and yet the lyrics are just quite cheesy ("I just wanna be Jekyll but I'm always fighting Hyde").
Essentially, what songs like that come down to is if you're willing to put the lyrics behind you and just enjoy the music. If you can do that, you'll be in for a pretty decent time. But if you're not, then you will see this as an abomination, plain and simple. Admittedly, there are a couple cases where even the music cannot save the song. "Boots and Blood" is one of the worst FFDP songs I've heard (up there with "100 Ways to Hate" and "Burn MF"), as it feels like it was just an excuse for Ivan Moody to curse as much as he possibly could. Now *that's* uninspired. "Ain't My Last Dance" is pretty bad on the lyrical front too ("I don't f***ing f*** with your consensus").
As for some songs that manage to shine based on music alone (and as usual, there's a few songs that actually don't have bad lyrics--just "meh" lyrics), we have "No Sudden Movement" and "Hell to Pay." The former of these two has quite a crunchy guitar riff leading the way, while the latter gets by on catchiness more than anything. "Digging My Own Grave," "Wash It All Away," and "Question Everything" (which has a creative bridge with some acoustic strums) are pretty decent songs as well. "Jekyll & Hyde" has more of an acquired taste to it.
Got Your Six probably won't change very many people's opinion about FFDP--and if it does, it'll only become worse. And this isn't exactly their best work at all. Unlike American Capitalist, which was closer to this one on the lyrical level but *far* better on the musical front, this one doesn't have quite as many standouts. Got Your Six isn't exactly a great album, but it's just good enough to be a worth a listen if you've enjoyed what else they've had to offer musically in years past. All others need not apply, as it will just be another abomination to them.
Song Highlights: "Hell to Pay," "No Sudden Movement," "Question Everything," "Digging My Own Grave"
