Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice for None

Five Finger Death Punch are another one of those polarizing figures in metal with a lot of extra-musical context to address in order to not simply fall into the binary on the discussion surrounding them. I remember hearing them come up off the release of their debut album when I was in high school and their gradual ascent to stardom with their knack for making tight, melodic groove metal full of aggressive, grit-toothed attitude. I enjoyed their sophomore release, War Is the Answer, even more than their debut when it came out (and again as I revisited it for this album’s review process). They took a bit of a stumble with American Capitalist in 2011, but they still held pretty true to their core direction of punchy, modern, fuck-you groove metal. It was around this time, though, that their rising fame began to develop the polarity about them within the metal community we all know too well today.

Five Finger Death Punch have both a dedicated fan base ready to jump to their defense at any sight of criticism (often quite obnoxiously) and plenty of people on the other side of that coin ready to engage in their intense hatred for the band (also quite obnoxiously). While the band’s early work is commendable and full of potent modern groove metal, their recent output has garnered harsh criticism for good reason, sounding like cheap repeated milking of the same ideas at best and the discharge of an overly financially minded industry plant at worst. And the band’s generally dismissive attitude toward their “haters” has not helped their image in the eyes of the metal community’s more vigilant members.

I personally haven’t gotten myself involved in any of the debates surrounding the band lately, mostly because everywhere it seems like either a circlejerk among fans or critics or a shitshow between the two camps. My position on them is pretty simple: I enjoy their more vibrant earlier albums (their first two and, to a lesser extent, their third) for what they are, which is pretty straightforward, no-bell-and-whistles, verse-chorus groove metal with a lot of good conveyances of pissed off attitude. And I’m less thrilled by the lack of imagination and increased radio baiting of their newer albums.

As for all the pointless drama surrounding band members’ multiple stints in rehab, shitty diva-attitude-filled live performance catastrophes, and near disbandment, I don’t care. From what little I know, I know that Ivan and Chris are both doing better with their commitment to sobriety and their health, for which I can say I am glad. It’s not like I’d want them to drink themselves to death or anything like that. But all the public bullshit outside the music doesn’t make any difference to me.

So where does that leave the band on their seventh full length?

Well, And Justice for None in some moments gives a few gasped breaths of reinvigorated attitude, but its clearly over-involved tailoring to easy access to radio and numerous listener demographics at the hands of label influence essentially guarantees it not changing their status to their devout defenders or their devout attackers. Unfortunately, much more often than not, it’s more of the same from the past four to five years.

The first three songs on the standard version of the album expend all the album’s potent attitude early and quickly, but it’s not too bad while it lasts, it’s almost reminiscent of the American Capitalist days. The third track “Sham Pain” is actually one of the band’s more level-headed, simple lyrical works(even if the instrumental isn’t all that notable), alternating between the genuine stresses of life in the limelight and feelings of not having a valid reason to complain while “living the dream”, with a quick jab at the TMZ of metal (Blabbermouth), thrown in there as well. The mildly catchy “Fire in the Hole” is not a bad early moment on the album either, but still feels as recycled as much of the band’s recent material.

It doesn’t take long though for the band slide back into their weird obligation to alternating a bunch of corny token ballads to pad the track list with radio hit candidates like their shitty attempt to emulate late 90′s country rock on their clearly incompetent rendition of “Blue on Black” and the wannabe arena rock lighter-waver “I Refuse”. The awkward turn-of-the-millennium hard rock nodder “Stuck in My Ways” (whose vibe reminds me of Shinedown’s less compelling output in their Sound of Madness era) and the bland tries at pensive acoustic-laden metal on “When the Seasons Change” and “Will the Sun Ever Rise” are similarly useless filler detrimental to the band’s badass image.

The album has its share of heavier filler tracks as well, like the tired “fuck you” (I don’t know who) song, “It Doesn’t Matter”, and the lazy groove metal chuggers “Rock Bottom” and “Bloody”.

As for their cover of The Offspring’s “Gone Away” (a great fucking song, by the way, that exemplifies the best aspects of 1990′s alternative metal and punk-laden post-grunge) that shows up on this album, I get the feeling the band painted themselves into a corner with their numerous hit covers and created a mandate for another by which this confusing cover was pushed out into daylight. I say that because I can’t at all tell what they’re trying to do with the song. It’s bombastically overproduced to the point of sucking the life out of the originally heartfelt composition, with little emotion coming from the performances. Moody is a talented vocalist, but this song does not suit his style or his timbre, and it ends up being one of their dullest covers ever, probably not to their label’s pleasure.

And Justice for None might score Five Finger Death Punch a couple of hit singles, but it certainly won’t be changing anyone’s mind either. It leaves me wondering if this is the last album they can make pandering and scraping the bottom of their creative barrel like this before the pressures of the industry or their expiration as their label’s cash cow sends their career plummeting. While I wouldn’t wish anything disastrous upon them, this album is only showing more vividly the writing on the walls that reads the fate to which every similar industry pet before them has succumbed. I don’t know how long they can go on like this, putting off their inevitable expulsion by the institutions that nurture them for their own financial profit. For their own sake, perhaps their best hopes are in becoming the Nickelback of metal, who aren’t nearly as prevalent as they used to be, but who still somehow maintain a strong career despite immense hatred from non-fans… that is if they aren’t already pretty well-agreed within the metal community to be the Nickelback of metal already.