895. Five Finger Death Punch / The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1. 2013. 2.5/5

Prior to the Soundwave Festival in 2014 I started researching the bands of whom I had little to no knowledge, and checked out their music in an attempt to decide who I was going to see and who I could safely avoid. Five Finger Death Punch was one of those bands, and had conveniently released two albums during 2013, allowing me to get an up to date perspective on a band that I had heard nothing about to that point in time. This was the first of those, and the second was the following Volume 2. While I didn't have a lot of time before the Festival to digest the album, I found enough to make me interested enough to follow them up on the day, and their live show was excellent, and they continued to pique my interest without ever really grabbing it completely.

Fast forward two years, and my thoughts haven't changed a great deal since that time. The style of metal that Five Finger Death Punch play is not in the main region of my listening pleasure. At times they fall terrifyingly close to a Nickelback theme, which always makes me doubt what I see in any of their music. At times they sound like they are trying to do a Fozzy cover, but surely that would be just plain silly.

"Diary of a Deadman" is a really strange way to end an album that has completely mixed its style so much that its hard to find a point at which you can like the whole shebang. It feels as though it wants to be a ballad again, but between the quiet spoken vocal pieces and the loud drum and riffing sections that then lead us back to the hardcore vocals it just can't make up its mind, and thus I am left in a quandary as to whether I like it or not. I probably don't. The title track is in the same boat, a hardcore ballad that tries its hand at winning over those kind of fans. Like most of the songs here this isn't terrible, but it lacks something that can drag it above the average.

"M.I.N.E (End This Way)" is one of those songs here that delves into the Nickelback arena, a dangerous path for any band to cross given the polar opposites of most people's feelings about that band's music. There must be people out there who like this kind of stuff. I do not.

The obvious fan favourite is the opening track "Lift Me Up", which includes guest vocals from Rob Halford. Always a nice way to gain some promotion amongst the heavy metal community. It has the right energy and structure to be a flag bearer for the album. If the whole album was like this it would be closer to a winning situation, but that is not the case. "I.M.Sin" is perhaps the only other song that comes within cooee of standing on its own, "Dot Your Eyes" would probably be fine except it does sound as though Ivan Moody is trying a bit too hard on vocals.

When I saw the band live I enjoyed their show, I enjoyed their set and though it didn't reach out and grab me like other bands did on that day I felt as though there was something on offer. Repeated listenings to this album has left me more disappointed than disavowed. Perhaps in the long run they just aren't for me after all.
Rating: "I'm gonna change history". 2.5/5.