Review Summary: I'm in for a beating for this one...
I get it....Five Finger Death Punch is slightly disliked by the majority of metal connoisseurs.
I've already *** the bed....Five Finger Death Punch is widely despised by just about every single person who gives a *** about the holy grail that is heavy metal, and even the much wider genre of rock n'roll.
Let's all be real with each other. Five Finger Death Punch is on their seventh studio album and every album is the same. Exactly. The. Same. There's a majority of beefcake, in your face, ***'em all thrashers and some power ballads for radio revenue. It was ok the first time, although by no means unique or original, perhaps laughable the second, but then the third album came. And then the double album. Which didn't technically need to be a double album because both iterations of the so called double album were exactly the same, but then the sixth album came and....what do you know...it was exactly the same. Then, now in 2018, And Justice for None is dropped upon us all and here is where I am going to lose every ounce of respect that might have been gained for myself in the last ten seconds.
It's not that bad.
Are there terrible, horrible, cringe-worthy moments lyrically on this album? Absolutely. Is there anything resembling musical ingenuity on this album? *** no. But is this not what we expect from a band called Five Finger Death Punch? And now you are going to hate me.
Five Finger Death Punch is arguably one of the most popular modern rock, radio bands performing today, like it or not. You have to admit that is quite a feat for a lyrical arsenal that contains "***" in approximately 40% of the total combined lyrics from all seven albums. I told you in the last paragraph you were going to hate me...now you're going to want to hang me.
I like Five Finger Death Punch. I first found the band through the single "The Bleeding" and I honestly think that their first album is probably their very best material because it was the first. After that they copied, added some more "***s", rinsed, and repeated again, but I did not find it unbearable by any means. I like Five Finger Death Punch because they know who they are, they adopted the persona that they have, and they have never once backed down from it, despite having endured many incidents that would have torn any other band apart (just google Ivan Moody's numerous breakdowns and struggles with substance abuse). But yet here they are, now on their seventh album (or is it the sixth?...I lost ***ing track), and they are still the same band, not backing down.
Now before I get into the meat and potatoes of the album itself, I have to address this and boy oh boy...I am condemning myself to no redemption here. Here we go again. I think Five Finger Death Punch has the potential to put out a truly great album. I don't mean a Dark Side of the Moon or Nevermind type album, but a really good album that could really earn them respect. The talent is there. Ivan Moody has a fantastic voice. There will be naysayers but even in their cheesiest of ballads he has his moments. In fact it is because of Moody that I like FFDP as much as I do. Moody left an impact on me way back in my high school years when he was in the band Motograter (which has a newer album....listen to the difference and tell me you Moody doesn't have at least a little talent.) His side project Ghost Machine sold me...in fact even some of Moody's most asinine FFDP lyrics resonate with me because he doesn't even try to be artsy or creative here. He just puts whatever is on his mind out there and screams it out. Aside from Moody, Zoltan Bathory can play that ***ing guitar. I know he can. You can hear it on every album. The problem is that the band never takes the time to develop songs. They find a nice meaty riff and run to the ***ing races with it. The band's best moments musically are the few musical interludes they have sprinkled throughout their discography. Oh...whatever...everyone hates them anyways...back to the album.
It's a step forward for the band. It took seven album to get there, but it is, and anyone that tells you that it is unlistenable is lying because there are a few moments here worth listening to.
The album opens with Trouble. It's standard FFDP upbeat, lesser "***s" for the radio, single fare. When I first heard this song I was...well I was displeased to say the least because it was like the last six or seven or eight first singles released, but in the long run, the song grew on me and it's a decent anthem. It's generic, it's cheesy, the lyrics are abysmal, but I can relate to Ivan. "There's no excuses, this is who I choose to be, I don't look for trouble, Trouble looks for me." FFDP doesn't give a *** if you like them or not. They are who they are, and Trouble showcases what the band has become so popular for in the catchy hooks and anthemic chorus.
Now the trouble begins, not to make a pun. Fake could possibly be the worst ***ing song FFDP has ever made, and its unfortunate it had to end up here. I'm not going to even write the lyrics out because they are so embarrassingly bad that I would rather be Paul Reubens getting caught jacking off in the back of a movie theater than recite what is spat out of Moody's lips here, however, this is the lowest point.
Look, I am not going to go through every track on this album and try to sell it to you, although my review of the last track would make it appear that I am doing the exact opposite. The rest of the album isn't that bad. If you are a hardcore metal connoisseur than just don't listen because you already know what you are going to get. FFDP hits some real highs here, even though they don't get musically complex, which is consistently disappointing to me because I know the potential is there. "I Refuse" is a standard rock radio ballad that stands with the best of any other radio rock band out there today. The Offspring cover "Gone Away" has received a lot of flack but is honestly one of the better tracks off the album. "Will the Sun Ever Rise" is a ballad at the beginning that breaks down towards the end and is one of the band's most mature offerings to date. It's all generic, it's all familiar, but if you are going in to it expecting anything else after six previous albums...then I don't know what to ***ing tell you.
The music elitists rip apart FFDP every time they release an album. The question is why? Why listen? FFDP is the band that everyone loves to hate, and the band loves the hate and keeps on fueling it....release after release after release. Everyone else keeps checking in, looking to see who FFDP might be this next album, but no worries, there's no excuses....this is just who they were meant to be.
