FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's CHRIS KAEL 'Loves' All The 'S**t Talkers' On BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Metalshop TV conducted an interview with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael at this year's Prague Rocks festival on June 22 in Prague, Czech Republic. Asked if he is bothered by all the haters who post negative comments about his band on sites like BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Kael said: "Not at all. I love it. I was on Blabbermouth long before DEATH PUNCH. I'm on Blabbermouth all the time now that I'm in DEATH PUNCH, and I'll continue to be on there. So I get the shit talking.

"When I was a kid growing up, we didn't have social media, and it was us talking to one another," the 48-year-old bassist, who recently admitted that he relapsed with alcohol nearly two years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, continued. "This is just another form of talking to friends, shit talking bands and whatnot that you don't like. It's much easier to get on the computer and do it now and for people to hear that kind of stuff. So I get it. I love it.

"Just recently, there was one story that was on Blabbermouth," Chris added. "Blabbermouth's the big one that everybody's always on there shit talking; it's kind of the vibe over there. I love it. Talk shit all day long. Bring it. Just be original. I don't wanna hear the fucking dumb shit that I hear over and over again. Be original. Don't be a hack. Get a chuckle out of me, and I do comment on 'em when it's a good one. Like, 'Oh, that one — that one's good.' We can make fun of ourselves. I fucking get it."

For much of the last four years, Kael had touted having a sober lifestyle, saying that he was the "strongest" he had ever been after coming out of rehab. However, the bassist told Jason Rockman of Canada's "The Rockman Power Hour" in March that he fell off the wagon as the coronavirus lockdown continued, saying that "it was not good."

Kael previously opened up about his battle with alcohol and drug addiction in a February 2021 interview with MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH bassist Chris Kael. At the time, he stated about his decision to get sober: "I was doing blow, but I realized when I went to rehab, I was always the key bump guy. So just keeping the levels up just enough to fight any sort of depression. And then also through that time, Ivan [Moody, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer] was very much the focus of the issues [with drugs and alcohol] that he was going through at that point. No surprise and no secrets there — we've all seen the stuff that happened back then. But he was the focal point for everybody. So I was kind of able to hide in the background while he was dealing with his stuff. So I got to slide under the radar most of the time."

Back in April 2018, Kael told the KLAQ radio station that he was "going through about an eight-ball of cocaine a week" at the height of his addiction. "That got to be the biggest problem for me," he revealed. "That and depression, the two things, were not good. I didn't realize it until I got into rehab that I was self-medicating with cocaine to get my dopamine levels up to fight the depression. I never even thought about that. And then when you come off it, you crash hard."

Kael first revealed his battle with addiction in a series of tweets, saying that his then-wife played a "major role" in helping him get clean. "Had she not busted me trying to restock after burning through $1300 in blow in two days in late January [2018], I truly believe that I would not be here today," he wrote.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH will release a new album, "AfterLife", on August 19.