Somehow it’s fitting that Five Finger Death Punch would make an album called “American Capitalist.” When the group formed in 2005, it didn’t share much more than red, white and blue dreams of success — and similar musical tastes.
“It was more like we were business partners first,” says the band’s drummer, Jeremy Spencer, during a telephone interview. “It was like, here’s the vision of the band. There’s no compromise. This is what we’re doing, and that’s how it all came about. Everyone was on board with that.
“We became friends later when we started touring,” he says.
By that time, the band had released its debut CD, “The Way of the Fist.” Since then, two more albums — “War is the Answer” and now “American Capitalist” — have been released, and Five Finger Death Punch has done a lot more touring.
The trend continues Oct. 25 at X Rocktober Fest at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. Five Finger Death Punch will headline, bringing along opening hard rock and metal bands All That Remains, Hatebreed and Rains.
There have been a few casualties since the Death Punch formed. Spencer, guitarist Zoltan Bathory and singer Ivan Moody are the only remaining original band members.
The newest change came in June when bassist Matt Snell was replaced by Chris Kael. Guitarist Jason Hook (who in 2009 followed Caleb Bingham and Darrell Roberts into the lineup), is the fifth band member.
Spencer admits that reaching this point has been a process.
“It’s tough. It’s trying,” he says. “Some of us are stubborn. There are going to be good days and bad days. When you’re driving around the country together, it can wear on you after a while. But it always works itself out. The people who aren’t here anymore, I bless them. I love them. I’m friends with them and I wish them the best.”
The band came together in 2005 when Spencer answered an ad placed online by Bathory, who wanted to start a new group. After trading demos, they got together and found that they were musically on the same page. They began working on the songs that would emerge on Death Punch’s 2007 CD, “The Way of the Fist.”
Soon after the other original members were on board, the group was up and running. It caught the attention of record label Firm Music, and things have been moving steadily forward since.
The band’s members make no secret about wanting success.
In one of Bathory’s interviews, he says he wants Five Finger Death Punch to be a band that proves a metal group can appeal to the masses.
The band’s first two albums were gold-selling CDs, and it looks like “Capitalist,” released earlier month, will follow suit. It sold more than 90,000 copies in its first week, making it the band’s strongest debut yet.
The songs on “American Capitalist” have the right ingredients to reach various metal audiences. While the music often verges on hardcore and extreme metal with furious songs such as “Under and Over It,” “Menace” and “American Capitalist,” it also has more melody than many of today’s metal acts. The big hooks in the Metallica-esque “Back For More” and “The Pride” make the songs accessible, and the CD includes a couple of anthemic ballads that could play alongside mainstream rock bands such as Nickleback or Puddle Of Mudd.
Spencer isn’t getting caught up in the early hype, though.
“We’re not going to buy into any press clippings,” he says. “We’re just going to keep going and make music that we like to make. And if it lands, awesome, and if it doesn’t, hey, I’m still satisfied because I did what I wanted.”
The band is set on making its biggest impression yet on this fall tour, bringing out a mix of songs from its three CDs.
“The stage show itself is going to be something we hope people walk away from going, ‘Wow, you have to see that,’ “ Spencer says. “So we’re setting the bar pretty high this time.”
