FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's IVAN MOODY On Upcoming LP: 'This Album Has Not Been F**king Easy To Make'

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH frontman Ivan Moody spoke to Metal Hammer magazine about the band's upcoming album, tentatively due in early 2020. The LP is being helmed by the band's regular producer, Kevin Churko, in FIVE FINGER's hometown of Las Vegas.

Moody, who is the group's primary lyricist, said: "This album has not been fucking easy to make. There was always somebody fucking quitting. Somebody wants to fire another guy, somebody's unhappy with someone's lifestyle. These things happen on a daily basis."

He added: "If there weren't bumps in the road, it would have been a shit record because that's complacency and that's settling."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently released a teaser for a new single called "Inside Out", and Moody told Metal Hammer that the track "pretty much encompasses everything" since he embraced sobriety after his much-publicized struggles with addiction.

"This is the first piece of music I've written since all this happened," he said. "So all these emotions, I finally get to put them out in a therapeutic way. It's about alcoholism. It's about my family leaving. It's about my bandmates. It's about looking at myself in the fucking face and saying, 'Dude, you're going to have to do this because nobody else is coming.'"

Earlier this year, Moody, who celebrated his first year of sobriety this past March, credited several of his friends and musical peers with helping him get through some of his darker moments, including JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford and KORN's Jonathan Davis.

A year and a half ago, Moody told the Green Bay radio station Razor 94.7 that he nearly died due to an alcohol-related seizure and woke up surrounded by EMTs and his daughter holding him while crying. He also admitted that he went to rehab five times before the last time finally stuck.

Moody revealed that he was sober but massively hung over during his onstage meltdown in Europe in 2017, with the band sending him home after that and later welcoming him back on a "probationary" basis after both Phil Labonte from ALL THAT REMAINS and Tommy Vext from BAD WOLVES filled in on a couple of tours.

According to Ivan, his battles with alcohol abuse also heavily inspired the lyrics on FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's most recent album, "And Justice For None".

The drums on FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's forthcoming eighth LP were laid down by Charlie "The Engine" Engen, who made his live debut with the group during its fall 2018 tour with BREAKING BENJAMIN. He stepped in for original drummer Jeremy Spencer, who left the band in December due to a back injury.