Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Five Finger Death Punch - Zoltan Bathory

After taking the metal world (and even rock radio) by storm with its first album, The Way of the Fist (2007), Five Finger Death Punch is back for round two. War Is the Answer sees the band staying true to the established Death Punch sound but also spreading its wings—the result of becoming an even tighter, more focused unit after two-plus years of touring. As they prepared for the launch of the Shock and Raw Tour—the band’s biggest headlining tour to date, with openers Shadows Fall and Otep—guitarist Zoltan Bathory, a good friend of Live-Metal.net, checked in with Greg Maki to discuss the new album, the tour, Internet trolls and more.

Live-Metal.net: Explain the title of the new album. If war is the answer, what is the question?

Zoltan Bathory: The question was the oldest question mankind has. What is life? Life IS war. You are born, you fight and when you can no longer fight, you die. War is a concept, not a single word definition. Your position in society, on a political ladder, at your job—wherever you are, you have to fight for something. Even the peaceful Buddhist monk that’s sitting quietly in a monastery, inside his head there’s a raging war, as he’s trying to tackle his own mind. War is everywhere, and it is everything. It’s imprinted in your genes. So you can take this into the dark and murky deep waters of philosophy … or just take it as “sometimes you have to stand up, sack some asshole right in the fuckin’ mouth.” War is a big word. It covers a lot of ground.

There is a familiar face on the album cover. Have you named him? Will he ever make an appearance onstage, a la Iron Maiden’s Eddie?

Yes, the little skull head guy is becoming our mascot. There’s no official name, but we call it “knucklehead” when we refer to it.

You were the principal songwriter for The Way of the Fist. Was that the case for the new album or was it more collaborative?

I have somewhat of a robust personality, not talking about ego but more of a task-oriented, action-based swing. I love what I do, and when I’m on the mission to accomplish something, people may view it as I’m the bull in the china store. I rampage through anything that stands in the way. That’s the legacy of the way and where I grew up. I had to fight for everything, and that’s the only way I know how to be. But I’m learning to co-exist and allocate [laughs], so this was more of a collaboration.

When you started working on this album, what were you hoping to accomplish? Do you feel that you did what you set out to do?

A few different things, and I think we accomplished all of them. It was important to maintain our style but without making the same record. It was important to make a diverse album that does not get boring by staying in a narrow corridor of a specific subgenre. I mean, for me it’s all metal, but within metal you have Iron Maiden and Behemoth, Killswitch Engage and DragonForce. They are all metal—but very different from each other, and there’s something I personally love about every one of these bands. So in my view there’s a lot of legroom within metal. The difficult thing is to cover a wider musical territory without losing your identity. But I think we accomplished that, too. We can play an acoustic tune, and it would still sound like Death Punch. All in all, we wanted to make a better record. We wanted the album to be diverse and we wanted to evolve, but without losing the link between this and the first record.

The band didn’t play live much before recording The Way of the Fist. How did nearly two years of touring affect the creation of the new album?

We became a well-oiled war machine. I think it shows.

Tell me about the instrumental track, “Canto 34.” I know you normally try to write music so that it sort of tells a story before vocals are added. What was the inspiration for this one?

Actually, it was Ivan who insisted on an instrumental. I always approach music from the songwriter’s perspective, and while I LOVE Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore and all the great guitar heroes, I always put the song before the shred. Ivan insisted to “let it rip for a second,” so instead of the vocals we laid down some shreddage—Jason and me trading solos on this one all the way through. It was fun.

Has replacing Darrell Roberts with Jason Hook changed the dynamic in the band or was it a seamless integration?

I’m not going to air the dirty laundry, but let’s just say we had no choice but to let Darrell go. And, of course, removing the friction instantly changed the dynamics of the band. I don’t mean musically, but on the personal level. In fact, for those who are trying to make some kind of case of the before and after Darrell “sound,” I have to tell ya that “argument” is ridiculous. Darrell joined the band after the first album was recorded with the exception of one song, so his playing or his sound did not mold the Death Punch sound. Jason was a good friend of all of us and he is an incredible player. It was no-brainer to bring him in. In fact, I’m such a fan of his playing I handed over most of the solos to him. It added another dimension to the band. The guy is a devastating player.

How did it feel to win best new band from the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards?

It was incredible. Two days before the Golden Gods we played the Download Festival, on the main stage front of an estimated 40-50,000 people. There’s a video of it on our DVD that comes with the deluxe edition of the new CD. That size of crowd screaming “Death Punch” can crack a polar bear’s ass in half. It was majestic. We didn’t even come down from the high yet, and we were in London receiving the award. It was truly an honor..

What can fans expect from the Shock and Raw Tour?

This is our biggest headlining tour to date. We’re bring out all the guns. Our stage setup is downright sick.

Shadows Fall is opening for you on this tour. Does it give you a little extra motivation knowing you will follow such a great live band every night?

Absolutely, it’s a very strong bill. Otep, Shadows Fall—both those bands have a hardcore following, and of course I don’t have to introduce the Death Punch fans. They’re probably the craziest of all. So this will be all-out mayhem. Shows are already selling out. It’s going to be a tour to see.

The Way of the Fist was very successful. Two years later, assess it from a creative and artistic perspective. Are you as happy with it now as you were when you recorded it? Is there anything you wish you could change?

I love that record. It was exactly what we wanted to do. Very proud of it.

Any time a metal band has some success on the radio or anywhere that might be considered mainstream, some fans start to cry “sell-out.” What can you say to assure the fans that Five Finger Death Punch isn't doing that on the new album and won't do so in the future?

You know, when we made that first record, without a label to support us, without a management, we recorded it because we loved and believed in what we were doing. Just the five of us financing it from our own pockets doing everything ourselves—we had no idea that it’s going to sell 400,000 copies. It sounded the way WE wanted it, and generally you’re not thinking about what would sell when you don’t even have a deal.

The way it all happened is as far from selling out as it gets, especially if you consider that we got picked up by a small indie label! There’s no multimillion dollar corporation behind us. You don’t see advertising in all the magazines—not that money can buy you fans anyway, because people like you or they just don’t. This all happened because our music connected to lot of people, we were doing something they wanted to hear and they stepped behind it. We stayed on the road for more than two years, worked our asses off for everything we got. Our fans are hardcore, and it’s an insult to them just as it is an insult to us. You would think 400,000 people know what they like to hear. I don’t think any of the subgenre-whore elitist bloggers could possibly control their opinions. [laughs] Step into the moshpit with our fans, they WILL give you their opinions all right.

But what is the definition of selling out anyway? Success? That’s ridiculous. Imagine if successful bands would take a left turn and write some abstract shit just to make sure less people like them, so some troll wouldn’t call them a sellout. What a fucking retarded idea. We do what we do, we play the music WE LOVE, and as long as we have the fans, as long as they come and see us, we will be around. That is the rule. The power is in the fans’ hands.

So fuck all the ignorant trolls talking shit on the ’net. Tell them to get the fuck up from their couches and do something with their fucking lives. Talk is cheap. Go and do something noteworthy, motherfucker. WAR IS THE ANSWER.

When will we have the Five Finger Death Punch vs. Live-Metal.net paintball war?

War is the answer. [laughs] Yeah, bring on the PAIN.

That probably sounded like a good challenge, but I've never played paintball before, so I'm sure you’d massacre us.

We do have some experience, yes. There’s nothing like an early afternoon massacre.

Thanks for answering my questions. See you Oct. 9 in Baltimore!