Review : Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist

FFDP : American Capitalist (Prospect Park)

Rating 3.5/5

In the words quoted on their website “Everyone has two choices – evolve or die” and I am pleased to say that in my opinion this band has evolved and built upon the foundations laid in their previous two releases. The percussive assault and interlacing of clean and heavy vocals evident from the start are in typical FFDP style, however, American Capitalist sounds more mature than prior albums while still maintaining the almost fun aggression of the band.

The first two tracks on the album “American Capitalist” and “Under and Over It” contain strong drum/bass sounds throughout the songs but in my opinion the mixing is weighted slightly too much towards these overshadowing the guitars, particularly in the solo. The mixture of vocals is also not as seamless as later in the albums, but both of these issues disappear with the first of my three favourite tracks “The Pride” the balance between different instruments and different vocal styles works well here and the lyrics poking fun at American capitalism and the catchy chorus would make this a good candidate for a live show.

“Coming Down” is the first of two slower tracks on the album along with “Remember Everything”. “Coming Down” takes you on a crescendo ride from the melodic start and then kicking in more and more from the first chorus leading up to the guitar solo, before coming back down again with the soft guitars at the climax of the song. “Remember Everything” has more of a power ballad theme particularly during the chorus.

In the remaining songs the guitar is more prominent and there are some good guitar solos, other favourites of mine on the album so far include “Generation Dead” with strong guitars and the vocals somewhere between clean and a growl and “Back For More” an energetic song from start to finish and strong lyrical themes with a chorus once again suited to be shouted back at the band during a live gig.

Video - FFDP discussing Back for More, Remember Everything and Wicked Ways

Check out any FFDP review and there always seems to be a hailstorm of abuse in the comments that follow, it seems odd to me to spend so much energy on bands you claim not to like why not just move on and find something that you do, and to any members of FFDP reading those comments I would refer them back to their own lyrics in “Back For More”:

“It's time to rise up, man up, get back up, never bend and won't be broken. Dust off and then come back for more”

Overall a strong third album from FFDP, while there are tracks I like better than others and some areas where the mixing doesn't sound quite right to me it’s an album that I still play in its entirety and I for one do hope that FFDP come back for more.

Track List:

1. American Capitalist

2. Under and Over It

3. The Pride

4. Coming Down

5. Menace

6. Generation Dead

7. Back for More

8. Remember Everything

9. Wicked Ways

10. I'll Fall

11. 100 Ways to Hate