Five Finger Death Punch were formed in 2005 by guitarist Zoltan Bathory (formerly of U.P.O.). The American Capitalist Songfacts states that Bathory came up with the name after being amused by a scene involving a five finger punch in Kill Bill 2. Other members recruited to the band include former Motograter & Ghost Machine vocalist Ivan Moody, former W.A.S.P. members guitarist Darrell Roberts and drummer Jeremy Spencer, and former Anubis Rising/Deadsett bassist Matt Snell.
The band recorded their debut album The Way of the Fist in 2006 with Stevo “Shotgun” Bruno (Mötley Crüe, Prong) and Mike Sarkisyan (Spineshank). The record was mixed and mastered by former Machine Head/Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader.
After making waves in the underground metal scene, in early June it was announced that the band had inked a deal with Firm Music, which is a branch of “The Firm”, a highly successful management company (Korn, Staind, Limp Bizkit). Their debut album “The Way Of The Fist” was released on July 31, 2007 The record broke into the Billboard 200 on its first week of release, and hit the #1 position on Billboard’s New Artist/Heetseekers chart. Their First single, “The Bleeding” landed in the top 40 rock radio charts, eventually worked its way into the top 10 and ruled the radio waves for an astonishing 8 months. In times when US Rock Radio is anything but friendly toward heavier bands, against all odds 5FDP not just repeated but surpassed their first single’s success with their follow up “Never Enough”.
