Review Summary: A certified dumpster fire.
Divisive doesn't go far enough to describe the public perception of Five Finger Death Punch. A band that spent the largest part of their career following the template set down by bands like Pantera and, later, Lamb Of God, whilst dumbing down the riffs to an almost unbearable standard. Their first three albums found a niche within the "gateway bands" category, serving as a nice introduction to heavier music for younger people who rely upon a singular catchy riff to declare a song satisfactory, and everything since 'American Capitalist' has generally been met with derision. Initial reception to 2022's 'Afterlife' was extremely negative, from the singles to the snippets of news surrounding it, and the final product is - unsurprisingly - an extremely poor album.
"Welcome To The Circus" opens the album, and those familiar with its predecessor will know to expect the most streamlined, commercial production conceivable, mixed with cringe-inducing lyrics and insipid riffing. "You've gotta kill somebody to thrill somebody, everybody needs a reason to breathe," the vocalist declares, before launching into a maelstrom of cussing and immaturity. The chorus is woeful, and the change in riff is almost imperceptable due to how processed the record sounds. This is reminiscent of later Drowning Pool or Mudvayne in how formulaic and designed purely for airplay it is, and whilst this is not always terrible, it certainly is here. "AfterLife" opens with a pointless solitary guitar that leads into yet more generic groove riffing, coupled with Ivan Moody's "tough guy" vocals. This guy is like Phil Anselmo devoid of any charisma, and sucked dry of any positives whatsoever. He attempts to take the same sound, but falls flat, and with lyrics like "you cut your nose off just to spite your effing face, that's who you are, you know your place," is is impossible to take him seriously.
To go through the album track-by-track would be senseless, and a total waste of time. The reader doubtless already knows what to expect - more forced catchy hooks in the chorus, dull and untalented guitar riffs, and the occasional solo or chuggier bridge section. "Roll Dem Bones" might be the worst offender here, opening with a vocal passage that turns off my interest before the riff even kicks in, and when it does it is like a later-era Asking Alexandria riff. I truly wish there were a way of speaking positively about this album, or at least shying away from sounding like a rant, but when every other word in the album is a cuss and every riff sounds like the previous one, it becomes difficult. Somebody, somewhere clearly still likes the garbage this band churns out every three years, and more power to them as they're clearly a more tolerant person than myself, and aren't likely to be reading this review anyway. For anybody else, stay well away from this dumpster fire.
