September 4, 2013 Five Finger Death Punch – The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 (Album review)
Since the band’s inception in 2005, Five Finger Death Punch has become one of the biggest metal bands on the scene. To many people, it did not seem like they became more popular with each album; they sort of Their rapid success has not only led to all of their previous albums reaching gold certification, but their songs have been featured in numerous video games, and “Far From Home” was featured on the popular television drama, Criminal Minds.
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 starts off strong with “Lift Me Up”, which is the single released a month before the release of the album. The song is one of the lighter songs and features guest vocals from Rob Halford of Judas Priest. The next track, “Watch You Bleed” is another song that could definitely make it as a single, given its catchy, A Day to Remember-like chorus. You starts off as a decent track and then beats you over the head with a badass breakdown and an amazing solo near the middle of the song.
“Wrong Side of Heaven”. “Burn MF”, and “I.M.Sin” are okay tracks. Not amazing, but they do not stand out above the others. “Burn MF” is the best of the three, with its only downfall being the repetitiveness in the vocals (“Burn motherfucker, burn motherfucker, burn”), as well as the fact that this part repeats multiple times throughout the song. Anywhere but Here features guest vocals from Maria Brink, the singer of the band In This Moment. This is another decent track and Brink’s vocals provide a great mix of harmony and balance toward the end of the song. Next up is my favorite song on the album, “Dot your Eyes”. Ivan Moody delivers the heaviest vocal performance of the album, which is a nice change from the mainly melodic feel of Volume 1. “M.I.N.E (End this Way)” is a great follow-up to “Dot your Eyes”. It’s a slower, lighter song, comparatively, but that in no way makes this a light song.
“Mama Said Knock You Out” is a cover of the LL Cool J song with the same title and features guest vocals from Tech N9ne. Even with FFDP’s heavy sound and a Tom Morello-like solo, this song still feels more like a rap song than a metal song. “Diary of a Deadman” is a great ending for the album. It’s almost entirely instrumental, with Moody letting the band play and only coming in every now and then to dramatically speak his lines. The album ends with the lines,
“So this is how it ends
All the tears, all the blood
It’s all been for nothing
As the candle dwindles and flickers out
The end”
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Volume 1 will undoubtedly become a huge success, as the rest of the albums by FFDP have, especially with an ever-growing fan base. CrypticRock gives this album 4 out of 5 stars!
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