Music Video Of The Week: I Apologize by Five Finger Death Punch

There have been a whole slew of music videos released that have caught my attention this week and the brand new music video from Five Finger Death Punch certainly got my attention. The band who are still touring for their latest album Got Your Six  have recently released a video for their latest single off the album called I Apologize. The video was directed by Nathan Cox and is a very interesting one. During the video, singer Ivan Moody is walking through a cemetery that with each headstone he walks by reveals a name of a legendary rocker and some that have recently passed like Lemmy Kilmister, Scott Weiland, and legends like Layne Staley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc. Eventually, he stops and he starts digging only to reveal that it’s his grave that he is digging. It’s a cool concept for the video and I can certainly dig it (no pun intended). The band talked about the video saying, “The video is a dark somber metaphor that speaks for itself. I don’t think we need a parallel narrative to explain it or emphasize its impact as almost everyone knows someone struggling with some form of addiction. It’s real for everybody. We have even been losing exceptionally bright, talented people who you’d assume know better. No matter how much support you provide, ultimately it’s everyone’s own decision to face their demons or perish.” Check it out below:

 

Rock And Metal News: Metal Tops The Charts Again

There was a time when Metal dominated the charts all the time so it saddens me to see the world we live in now where so many bands struggle. Although there are those moments when I get very excited at the news of metal bands topping the charts like Motorhead’s Bad Magic debuting at number 35 on the Billboard Top 200 charts last week or Disturbed’s Immortalized debuting at number some weeks back. This week brings more good news for the metal world as two new albums will debut on the charts. Last Friday saw the releases of Five Finger Death Punch’s sixth studio album Got Your Six and Iron Maiden’s epic sixteenth studio album The Book Of Souls. Well, the good news is that both of those albums will debut in the top 5 on the Billboard Top 200 charts with Iron Maiden coming in fourth and Five Finger Death Punch in second. According to Loudwire.com, this is how the charts are measured, “Billboard has a new system in place to determine chart position. In addition to pure album sales, the publication also factors in track equivalent albums and streaming equivalent albums.” So, even though FFDP’s new album finished in 2ND behind The Weeknd’s record, it outsold the Weeknd when it came to Pure Album Sales. For FFDP, this is their third consecutive number 2 finish with their last two records (both volumes of Wrong Side of Heaven) while this is Iron Maiden’s second consecutive fourth place finish as 2010’s The Final Frontier did the same. Just a little fun fact for you Maiden fans out there, this is the highest selling album for Maiden in the first week of release in the US since the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith came back in 1999. Congratulations to both bands and to Metal especially as we all rejoice.

Album Of The Week: Got Your Six by Five Finger Death Punch

I always love it when bands premiere their albums a little early of their release dates because it gives you the fan a chance to listen to the record. You essentially get to test it out before you buy it and that sounds like one heck of a deal to me. Five Finger Death Punch did just that with their upcoming sixth record Got Your Six which comes out everywhere September 4TH via Prospect Park. The band which is made up of Ivan Moody (Vocals), Zoltan Bathory (R. Guitars), Jason Hook (Guitars), Chris Kael (Bass), and Jeremy Spencer (Drums) may have had a little care not too long ago, but they are ready to roll. Jeremy Spencer commented on the album saying, “I’m digging it, man. It’s actually more brutal, with more extreme dynamics. There are some really mellow parts and then some really brutal parts. So we’re running the whole gamut of sounds.” The album is the band’s follow up to both volumes of The Wrong Side Of Heaven and The Righteous Side Of Hell. The band premiered their new record a week early of it’s release on Pandora Radio and yours truly checked out the new record.

1.  Got Your Six– Starts off light before the band drops the hammer for a real hellraiser about having someone’s back. 4/5

2. Jekyll & Hyde– The beginning has a real Faith No More feel to it because of the vocals, but that is because Jason Hook took a voice mail that Ivan left him at 2:30AM and turned it into a song. 4.5/5

3. Wash It All Away– A real melodic track in the beginning with a very cool groove about the troubles of fame. 4/5

4. Ain’t My Last Dance– A real hard charging track with a cool groove that is about putting in all the effort with none in return. 4/5

5. My Nemesis– A slowered tempo track that still crushes about not hiding your bad side. 4.5/5

6. No Sudden Movement– A track whose heaviness builds up like a frieght train going a 1000 in the beginning. 4/5

7. Question Everything– The track has a melodic intro, but it bursts into overdrive. The really cool part about this song is the acoustic/flamenco style solo that you get which is a little different and awesome. 5/5

8. Hell To Pay– Sledgehammer like riffs makes this track an absolute headbanger. 4.5/5

9. Digging My Own Grave– A real melodic intro with drum machines, but never fear because the tempo gets turned up during the choruses. 4/5

10. Meet My Maker– Another groove laden track that is absolutely hammering. 4/5

11. Boots And Blood– This is the last track on the album and it’s pretty heavy. Ivan during the verses does more talking than singing as he is tell everyone off.

My Final Thoughts: Ivan Moody says this right on the band’s website, “If someone asked me to sum up who and what Five Finger Death Punch is, I would tell them everything they need to know is on this new record. Hands down, “Got Your Six” is our best one yet.” I really believe the band has been tearing up the scene, but do I think this is their best work yet? I’m not 100% positive about that right now because there are other albums from the band that I enjoy. I truly believe that the band absolutely tears it up on this record and it shows on every track. I am giving the record 4 stars out of five for a final grade. Check it out as it comes out this Friday (September 4TH).