After taking a name inspired by vintage, martial arts movie, “The Five Finger of Death” (a favourite movie of Tarantino also), Las Vegas, Nevada’s Five Finger Death Punch have since become recognised across the globe following their inception in 2005. Generally abbreviated, their moniker, often tattooed as 5FDP, often comes with more than its fair share of negative connotations, depending on who you listen to. Even so, Five Finger Death Punch have sold over 2 million albums worldwide, performed to thousands while touring the world, and graduated from small time club performers to big time commercial success as a heavy metal band.
Twelve years into their career, vocalist Ivan “Ghost” Moody, bassist Chris Kael, drummer Jeremy Spencer and guitarists Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook felt 2017 was the right time to take a look in the rear-view mirror, and to celebrate the journey so far. The result; ‘A Decade of Destruction,’ a sixteen track collection serving as a greatest hits. One that intimately documents the band from their debut, ‘The Way of the Fist’ in 2007, right up to the present day.
It’s the present day that provides ‘A Decade of Destruction’s’ opening salvo. New song, “Trouble,” greets fans with biting riffs married to a rhythmic tail, with verses that sound like they were picked directly from a Stone Sour musical cabbage patch. All of which makes for some fun, in a generic, radio friendly metal kind of way. Another new installment, “Gone Away”, deals in a vocal pattern eerily reminiscent of Tears for Fears classic “Mad World”. Whether this stems from a happy coincidence, or a tip of the hat, it serves the song well, helping it deliver the punch it set out to pack.
From this point on newer material comes to an end and the greatest hits begins in earnest. A collection that, for some, will provide much fond nostalgia, while for others, specifically newer, fresh blooded fans, a near perfect back catalogue of hits and highlights. Guitar heavy, drum pummeling tracks such as “Under and Over It” and “Bad Company” sit perfectly against the ballad based, “Wrong Side of Heaven,” as well as the pure classic, 5FDP colossal single, “The Bleeding.” As if the bands own finest weren’t enough, guest appearances from Rob Halford (Judas Priest) on “Lift Me Up,” as well as an intriguing rendition of “House of the Rising Sun,” make for some welcome and unexpected treats.
In some parts turbulent, in others pure chaos, ‘A Decade of Destruction,’ delivers the sights and sounds in that rear-view mirror that shaped the band into what we know them as today. A driving force, with a heavy foot on the gas, ‘A Decade of Destruction,’ also shows 5FDP heading with ever more ambition into a future with no end on the horizon. A collection that celebrates the times, trials and triumphs of Five Finger Death Punch, there is no reason why this best of isn’t gracing your record collection the very day its released.
