They got it right. After their debut The Way Of The Fist<\/i>, I wanted more. I wanted more hostility, more anger, more insight into their vision of the world, and more material from these musicians. Upon its release, the sophomore effort from Five Finger Death Punch rapidly became the CD I rotated in with my other favorite bands like Count The Stars, Bayside, and Spitafield when I needed a change from the generally positive outlook of those three bands. I\u2019ll go on a limb over a boiling pot of metal and say War Is The Answer<\/i> is easily the best sophomore effort from any band I can think of. I rank it next to Black Sabbath\u2019s Paranoid<\/i>, Skid Row\u2019s Slave To The Grind<\/i>, and Metallica\u2019s Ride The Lightning.<\/i><\/p>\n
Like most bands, there is a formula. The manner in which this band provides confrontational heavy metal with outstanding musicianship works. I did not track how many hours I have spent with this release. I know for awhile, I listened to this release at least five times a week. Each and every time I listen to this release, I hear attitude from vocalist Ivan Moody, musical talent from guitarists Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook, cutting lyrics, and attitude. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ll level the playing field and say that I don\u2019t like the order of the songs on this release. I understand that sometimes there has to be songs that just get put to the end of the release just because something has to be at the end. I think the final three songs could have easily been the leadoff song. <\/p>\n
In fact, in my playlist, I have made this song the album\u2019s first track. The lyrics that make an evil grin come to my face are these: \u201cI know it\u2019s got to chap your ass to think \/ I just won\u2019t go away \/ Affects me not, I\u2019m writing you off \/ I got nothing more to say.\u201d For me, personally, I think about all the times someone told me I would fail and yet, I did not give up. The cover of \u201cBad Company\u201d could easily have been track number two. Comparing the two versions is normal, and I prefer the cover version. \u201cCanto 34\u201d is an instrumental that showcases each musician within the band. Drummer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Matt Snell deliver a hard hitting performance under the guitar riffs of Bathory and Hook. <\/p>\n
That said, the opening of the release is good. The shortest burst of anger on this release at 2:54 is \u201cDying Breed.\u201d Vocalist Ivan Moody is immediately past your face and down your throat, spewing venom as he sings, \u201cI\u2019m not like you \/ I\u2019m a dying breed.\u201d Second track \u201cHard To See\u201d continue the hostility that was prevalent on their debut. Moody growls \u201cprojecting all my anger \/ I can\u2019t seem to get this through to you.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNo One Gets Left Behind\u201d follows, taking on the theme of the military and making a bold statement. Moody sings, \u201cPoliticians bathing in their greed \/ No idea on how to be all they can be \/ Have you no honor? Have you no soul? \/ What is it they’re dying for do you really even know? \/ Have you no backbone? Have you no spine? \/ Whatever happened to no one gets left behind?\u201d Reading between the lines, I hear a modern day Black Sabbath\u2019s \u201cWar Pigs\u201d in those lyrics. Very nice. The next song, \u201cCrossing Over\u201d features the best guitar solo on this release. <\/p>\n
Towards the end of the release, the band seems to ratchet up the material. \u201cFalling In Hate,\u201d the short three minute burst, could have easily been the second track. Moody spells out the betrayal he feels when he sings, \u201cDespite what you think of me \/ and despite what you say \/ I gave you everything \/ and you threw it away.\u201d The next track, \u201cMy Own Hell,\u201d is just as gut-wrenching with a breakdown in the middle of the song that grooves along at a fist pumping tempo. \u201cWalk Away\u201d offers insight into Moody\u2019s mind when he sings, \u201cI apologize for the cruel things that I did \/ But I don\u2019t regret one single word I said.\u201d It\u2019d be safe to say Moody lives in a world of chaos. <\/p>\n
Every time I listen to this release, I smile because the music makes a connection. I appreciate the emotions in Moody\u2019s delivery and the musicianship throughout the release. There is no filler material \u2013 each track could have been the first. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8761],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42470","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-five-finger-death-punch","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42470"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}