Is FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH A Heavy Metal Band? ZOLTAN BATHORY Responds

March 22, 2020

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory recently answered the most asked questions on the Internet for the viewers of Impericon. Check out the full Q&A below.

Asked if FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is "metal," Zoltan responded: "Well, look, a lot of people would say, 'No, they're not metal,' because of whatever. To me, it's a strange thing, actually, that heavy metal was [at one point] just heavy metal and generally, the really heavy bands and the lighter bands were all considered metal at one point. And then this whole subgenre segregation came about, and [there's] snocore — whatever the hell that is — and all these crazy subgenres came up.

"We don't really care what people call us. I think we are metal. If you listen to the [FIVE FINGER] songs [that are played] on the radio, that's, I'd say, on the border of hard rock and metal.

"We are completely fine with being called a hard rock band. I don't care. That's fine. But we have a lot of heavy pieces. What do you call that? I think it's metal.

"That's an interesting thing, that people actually Google that."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's latest album, "F8", was released on February 28. The follow-up to 2018's "And Justice For None" caps a turbulent period for FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in which singer Ivan Moody finally got sober after a near-fatal struggle with addiction, while co-founding drummer Jeremy Spencer bowed out of the band due to physical issues.

Much of "F8"'s lyrical content deals with Moody's battle with addiction, its aftermath and his recovery. The singer is celebrating two years of sobriety this month.

Spencer announced his departure from FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in December 2018 after going through two back surgeries and sitting out a tour. His replacement is Charlie "The Engine" Engen, who makes his recording debut with the band on "F8".

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).