Formation and The Way of the Fist (2005-2009)

Five Finger Death Punch was founded in 2005 after Hungarian guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Bathory - Zoltan Bathory left the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-grunge - post-grunge band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.P.O. - U.P.O. . A few months after forming the band he had already recruited former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. drummer Jeremy Spencer, former Anubis Rising/Deadsett bassist Matt Snell, and Caleb Bingham. In early 2006 he contacted former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motograter - Motograter vocalist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_L._Moody - Ivan Moody through the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace - MySpace looking for a vocalist for the band. Moody flew from his home in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver,_Colorado - Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles to try out for the band. He was accepted, and the band entered the studio to record their debut album. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-4 - [5]} On September 30, 2006 they played their first major show at the Delicious Rox Festival in Sedalia, Missouri alongside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_Factory - Fear Factory , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning_Pool - Drowning Pool and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fozzy - Fozzy . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-5 - [6]} Ivan Moody also played a one-time reunion show with the band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motograter - Motograter that night where he made it very clear to the fans and band alike that he was done with the band.

The band entered Next Level Studios and Complex Studios in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_California - Los Angeles, California to record their debut album, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_Fist - The Way of the Fist . The album was recorded with Stevo "Shotgun" Bruno ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tley_Cr%C3%BCe - M�tley Cr�e , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prong_%28band%29 - Prong ) and Mike Sarkisyan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spineshank - Spineshank ) and was mixed by former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Head_%28band%29 - Machine Head and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulfly - Soulfly guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Mader - Logan Mader . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-6 - [7]} Before the album was completed, Caleb Bingham left the band and was replaced by former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Roberts - Darrell Roberts . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-7 - [8]} Shortly after they signed a deal with Firm Music, a branch of " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Firm,_Inc. - The Firm ". ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-8 - [9]} On July 10, 2007 they released an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_play - EP , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Emptive_Strike - Pre-Emptive Strike exclusively through the American http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Store - iTunes Store . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-9 - [10]} That same day their debut single, " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bleeding_%28Five_Finger_Death_Punch_song%29 - The Bleeding " was released. The song went top ten and received radio airplay for eight months. The video for the song was released on July 27, 2007 ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-10 - [11]} and was voted one of MTV2's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headbangers_Ball - Headbangers Ball Top 5 Metal Videos of 2008. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-history-3 - [4]} Shortly after, on July 31, 2007 The Way of the Fist was released charting into the Billboard 200 on its first week of release, and reaching the #1 position on Billboard's New Artist/Heatseekers chart.

From July 30 through September 2, 2007 the band went on their first major tour cycle as one of the supporting acts on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn - Korn 's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Values_Tour - Family Values Tour . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-11 - [12]} They were also a supporting act of the North American leg of Korn's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitch_We_Have_a_Problem_Tour - Bitch We Have a Problem Tour from September 22 until October 27, 2007. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-12 - [13]} They were set to tour with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimaira - Chimaira and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_That_Remains - All That Remains from January through March 2008, but due to vocalist Ivan Moody developing cysts on his vocal cords they were forced to pull out. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-13 - [14]} He made a full recovery and they began to tour again. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-14 - [15]} They supported http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disturbed_%28band%29 - Disturbed on their http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indestructible_%28Disturbed_album%29 - Indestructible US Tour from April through May 2008. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-15 - [16]} They were also played day two of the second annual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_on_the_Range - Rock on the Range on May 18th. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-16 - [17]}

On May 13, 2008 they re-released The Way of the Fist. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-re-release-17 - [18]} The re-release contained 3 new bonus tracks which could also be obtained on the band's website by anyone who had purchased the original release. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-re-release-17 - [18]} One of the bonus tracks, " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Enough_%28Five_Finger_Death_Punch_song%29 - Never Enough " was released as their second single on July 15, 2008 surpassing the success of "The Bleeding". On August 6, 2008 the video for "Never Enough" was released. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-18 - [19]} Later that year they were a part of the 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_Festival_2008 - Mayhem Festival playing the J�germeister Stage alongside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Head_%28band%29 - Machine Head , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbourne_%28band%29 - Airbourne and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Jericho_%28band%29 - Walls of Jericho . During August 2008, they played a headlining tour with support from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_This_Moment - In This Moment , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_Your_Dead - Bury Your Dead , and Another Black Day. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-19 - [20]} A video was released for the title track of The Way of the fist on September 11, 2008. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-20 - [21]} They released their third single " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_Than_Fiction_%28song%29 - Stranger Than Fiction " on September 17, 2008. Spinefarm Records released The Way of the Fist in Canada on November 4, 2008 ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-21 - [22]} and in Europe on January 19, 2009. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-22 - [23]}

On January 17, 2009 it was rumored that Darrel Roberts was fired from the band. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-23 - [24]} On January 20th the band confirmed that he was no longer in the band and he would be replaced by former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper - Alice Cooper guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Hook - Jason Hook . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-24 - [25]} Five Finger Death Punch was one of the heavy metal bands, along with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakk_Wylde - Zakk Wylde , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Head - Machine Head , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evile - Evile and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenged_Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold that recorded a cover of a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantera - Pantera song for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Hammer - Metal Hammer compilation CD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getcha_Pull:_A_Tribute_to_Dimebag_Darrell - Getcha Pull: A Tribute to Dimebag Darrell for their January 2009 issue. They covered the song "A New Level" off of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgar_Display_of_Power - Vulgar Display of Power album. In February of 2009 they toured the UK with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God_%28band%29 - Lamb of God , who they also played with that month on the Metal Hammer's Defenders Of The Faith Festival Tour along with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimmu_Borgir - Dimmu Borgir . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-25 - [26]} They played another headlining tour in March. They ended their support for their first album, playing the main stage of the 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Download_Festival - Download Festival and winning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Hammer - Metal Hammer 's Golden Gods Award for "Best New Band".

[ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Five_Finger_Death_Punch&action=edit&section=3 - edit ] War Is the Answer and third album (2009-present)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Hook - Jason Hook , who replaced guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Roberts - Darrell Roberts in 2009.

The band's second album, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_the_Answer - War Is the Answer , was released September 22, 2009. It was co-produced by Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne) and mixed by Randy Staub ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica - Metallica , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Sour - Stone Sour , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelback - Nickelback ). The album landed at #7 on the Billboard 200, moving over 44,000 in its first week of release and is holding its position on the Billboard 200 ever since. The first single off the album, " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_to_See - Hard to See " entered US rock radio's top 10 after only a couple of weeks on the charts.

To promote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_the_Answer - War Is the Answer , Five Finger Death Punch embarked on "The Shock and Raw" US Tour. Main support on the tour was provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Fall - Shadows Fall , with additional support coming from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otep - Otep and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Cents - 2Cents . Upon completing the US run of the tour, Five Finger Death Punch then brought the Shock and Raw tour to Europe, finishing off with a run of dates in the UK. Main support for these dates was again http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Fall - Shadows Fall , and opening acts for the UK portion of the tour were Rise To Remain and Magnacult. The second single from War Is the Answer, " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_Away_%28Five_Finger_Death_Punch_song%29 - Walk Away ", released on November 2, 2009, peaked at #7 on the Billboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Mainstream_Rock_Tracks - Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was also used in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone - iPhone game application, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_Tap_Revenge_3 - Tap Tap Revenge 3 and also as the theme song for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling - TNA Wrestling 's 2010 PPV, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockdown_%282010%29 - Lockdown . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-26 - [27]} The album also spawned two UK-only singles, " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Breed_%28song%29 - Dying Breed ", released on November 16, 2009 ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-27 - [28]} and " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_One_Gets_Left_Behind - No One Gets Left Behind ", released on March 8, 2010. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-28 - [29]}

In March 2010 the band traveled to Iraq and played 10 shows for the United States troops. The band was also one of the headliners at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerfest_%28festival%29 - Metal Hammer Hammerfest II Festival in Wales that same month. The band's cover of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Company - Bad Company 's song " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Company_%28song%29 - Bad Company " was released as the fifth single off of War Is the Answer on May 17, 2010. The song has reached #2 on the US Mainstream Rock Charts (Active Rock) and, was made into a video using footage from their experiences while on their highly acclaimed, and much welcomed shows in Iraq. They hosted an episode of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headbangers_Ball - Headbangers Ball on May 18, 2010 on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV2 - MTV2 . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-29 - [30]} They played the Monster Energy Stage on Day 2 of the 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_on_the_Range - Rock on the Range . The Band played at Earth Day Birth Day on May 1st, 2010 alongside bands such as Korn, Trivium, Chevelle, Papa Roach, Sevendust and Hellyeah. On this date the Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer, declared the day to be 101.1 WJRR Day after the station who sponsors the event. Earth Day Birth Day had become the largest single day music event in the State of Florida and possibly the entire Southeastern United States.

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Guitarist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Bathory - Zoltan Bathory .

On their way to play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_am_Ring_and_Rock_im_Park - Rock am Ring and Rock im Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Bathory - Zoltan Bathory , Matt Snell and Jeremy Spencer were detained by by German police for alleged international weapons violations. According to a posting on the group's MySpace page, the Munich Police Department alerted the N�rnberg airport police where a group of officers took the musicians into custody for alleged international weapons violations. After recognizing the event as a misunderstanding, German police released the bandmembers and they appeared at both Rock Im Park on June 4, 2010 and Rock Am Ring June 6, 2010 as scheduled. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-30 - [31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-31 - [32]} A music video for "Bad Company" was released on June 11, 2010 featuring footage of the band playing for the United States troops in Iraq. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-32 - [33]} On June 17, 2010 Five Finger Death Punch released a guitar tab book containing the tabs to songs from their first two albums, "Ashes", " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bleeding_%28Five_Finger_Death_Punch_song%29 - The Bleeding ", "Bulletproof", "Canto 34", " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Breed_%28song%29 - Dying Breed ", " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_to_See - Hard to See ", " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Enough_%28Five_Finger_Death_Punch_song%29 - Never Enough ", " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_One_Gets_Left_Behind - No One Gets Left Behind ", "A Place To Die" and "The Way of the Fist". The book was released by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-33 - [34]}

Five Finger Death Punch also played the Maurice Jones Main Stage at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Download_Festival#Download_2010 - 2010 Download Festival alongside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_Against_the_Machine - Rage Against the Machine , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deftones - Deftones , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeth - Megadeth , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God_%28band%29 - Lamb of God and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellyeah - Hellyeah on June 12, 2010. While playing the song "Dying Breed", their set was cut due to too many people crowd surfing up to the stage. They were allowed to play one final song, "The Bleeding". On June 14th they played a short live set at The Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and won The "Best Breakthrough Band" award. Guitarist Zoltan Bathory won the "Dimebag Darrell Shredder Award" presented by former Pantera/current Hellyeah drummer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinnie_Paul - Vinnie Paul . They played the main stage at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_Festival_2010 - Mayhem Festival 2010 with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn - Korn , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Zombie - Rob Zombie and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God_%28band%29 - Lamb of God from July 10-August 14, 2010. According to Artist Direct: "Five Finger Death Punch stepped up their game immensely and managed to carve their own niche alongside the legendary headliners. They brought their very own sonic " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Now - Apocalypse Now ". Five Finger Death Punch's stage show was the perfect meeting point between Antichrist Superstar-era Marilyn Manson, Tool, and Pantera." On August 17, 2010 they performed the songs "Bad Company" and "Hard to See" on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company - ABC show http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Kimmel_Live%21 - Jimmy Kimmel Live! . ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-34 - [35]}

On September 16, 2010 Five Finger Death Punch released "Far From Home" as the sixth single from War Is the Answer. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-35 - [36]} The band will play a North American tour alongside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godsmack - Godsmack in the October. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-36 - [37]} They will be playing alongside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn - Korn , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozzy_Osbourne - Ozzy Osbourne , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenged_Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mot%C3%B6rhead - Mot�rhead at the Loud Park 10 festival, set to take place October 16-17 at Saitama Super Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Saitama City, Japan. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-37 - [38]} The band will enter the studio to record their third album in November 2010. ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-38 -}

I really enjoy this band and what they are doing, and the recognition they have gotten from just two albums. I hope you do too!
^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-38 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Finger_Death_Punch#cite_note-39 -}