Five Finger Death Punch was founded in 2005 by guitarist Zoltan Bathory (formerly of U.P.O.), the members he recruited to the band include former Motograter vocalist Ivan Moody W.A.S.P. drummer Jeremy Spencer former Anubis Rising/Deadsett bassist Matt Snell, and Jason Hook. Caleb Bingham, the original Death Punch lead guitarist, was replaced with Darrell Roberts of W.A.S.P. in 2007, who in turn was replaced by Jason Hook in 2009.
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 and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader. Soon thereafter, the band signed a deal with Firm Music, a branch of "The Firm". Their debut album The Way of the Fist was released on July 31, 2007. The record charted into the Billboard 200 on its first week of release, and reached the #1 position on Billboard's New Artist/Heetseekers chart. In an "unfriendly climate for metal", their debut single "The Bleeding", went top ten against all odds and received radio airplay for eight months and the video for the song was voted on MTV2's Headbangers Ball Top 5 Metal Videos of the Year. Death Punch not just repeated but surpassed their first single's success with their follow-up single, "Never Enough". The song charted faster than even that of "The Bleeding", until the third single "Stranger Than Fiction" took its place. The band accomplished 8 major tour cycles supporting their first album, finishing up on the main stage of the 2009 Download Festival and winning Metal Hammer's Golden Gods Award for "Best New Band".
The band's second album, War is the Answer, was released September 22, 2009. It was co-produced by Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne) and mixed by Randy Staub (Metallica, Stone Sour, Nickelback). The album landed at #7 on the Billboard 200, moving over 44,000 in its first week of release, an album that met the hype generated by leading UK heavy metal/hard rock media such as Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. The first single off the album, "Hard to See" entered US rock radio's top 10 after only a couple of weeks on the charts. To promote War Is the Answer, Five Finger Death Punch embarked on the Shock and Raw US Tour. Main support on the tour was provided by Shadows Fall, with additional support coming from Otep and 2Cents. Upon completing the US run of the tour, Five Finger Death Punch then brought the Shock and Raw tour to Europe, finishing off with a run of dates in the UK. Main support for these dates was again Shadows Fall, and opening acts for the UK portion of the tour were Rise To Remain and Magnacult. At the conclusion of the band's show at the Electric Ballroom in London, Ivan Moody announced to the crowd the band would be playing the Download Festival in 2010. Since the UK tour concluded, the band has also been announced as one of the headliners for the Metal Hammer Hammerfest II Festival in Wales in March 2010.
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