Five Finger Death Punch formed in 2005, and the highly successful metal act released their debut, “The Way of the Fist,” two years later. The album sold more than half a million copies in the U.S. alone, and the subsequent follow-ups, 2009’s “War Is the Answer” and 2011’s “American Capitalist,” both went platinum.
Despite what seemed like a rapid rise to success, guitarist Zoltan Bathory explained that while the band took off fairly quickly, they weren’t an overnight sensation. He also dispelled the notion that the band was created and propelled by industry suits.
“It’s always been a massive misconception when it comes to the press, when it comes to the audience, because this band grew really quickly,” he said on The Metallica Report. “We connected to the fans and our growth was exponential. And everybody thought that there must be some people from the music industry going, coming in here with suitcases of cash and they made us. And that’s exactly the opposite of the truth.”
“The first record was literally created in my bedroom. The whole record — every single guitar, bass — everything was recorded in a bedroom. I mean, it was a little desk and a computer and just minimal amount of equipment, and we did everything there. And then on the end, we went to a better studio to catch the drums and then the vocals, and then went back to the home and finished it there. So it’s a homemade record. That record is almost platinum now.”
Bathory continued saying that anyone with similar drive can duplicate the success of FFDP.
“So you can do it — everybody can do it; the technology allows you to,” he said. “And we signed to an independent label where we were the only band on the label. And it never really changed. We never had a major label deal. The band never had tour support. So basically what we did, we designed our own merch. Like, I designed most of the merch and we had our own merch guy on the road. And we were just selling our merch and the merch would support the band. And so all the way, like right now, I mean, obviously we are here. And it’s been always like that. It was always an independent band.”
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