Album Review: Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice For None

For this weeks album review I am going to talk about the seventh album by heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch called And Justice For None released in 2018. The band consists of Ivan Moody as lead vocalist, Zoltan Bathory on rhythm guitar, Jason Hook on lead guitar and as backing vocals, Jeremy Spencer (who has since left the band) on drums and percussion and Chris Kael on bass and as backing vocals. This album continued their highly successful run of albums, in the UK it became their second of three top 10's peaking at number 7 and third top 40. In the US it peaked at number 4 becoming their sixth of seven top 10's, also the fifth top 5 in a row. In Australia the album also peaked at number 4 becoming the second of three top 10's and the fourth of five top 40's. And Justice For None went to number 1 in Austria, Germany and Switzerland while entering the top 10 in another six countries and top 40 in six others too.

So you may know that I am a fan of rock music if you have read my reviews of Bad Wolves and Skillet's most recent albums, if you haven't I have put the link for each in, so it should come as no surprise how much I love Five Finger Death Punch's music. I only discovered them four years ago when their song I Apologize came up on a rock playlist, I proceeded to listen to everything else they had done and have since collected their first seven albums which I love and would definitely class Five Finger Death Punch as one of my favourite rock and metal bands ever. One of the things that makes this band so special is Ivan Moody's voice, it is so rich with the underlying growl that he uses so effectively yet he can still sing softer songs just as incredibly while always putting tonnes of emotion into each song. The high level of talent does not stop with Ivan as there are always several instrumental solos on their albums highlighting just how incredible every member of the band is at their part. I also love the range that the band has with every album containing the heavy and lighter ends of their genre while covering all sorts in between. 

My favourite song on the album is I Refuse, this is a perfect example of the variety in Ivan's voice as he shows the softer side and goes into the rougher end as well. This song is packed with emotion as it is about someone suffering with mental demons and unable to see a way through, considering Ivan's past battle with alcoholism this is quite a personal one for him and you can definitely hear it. The song begins slow with just a piano accompanying Ivan's raw vocals which then leads into a slightly heavier chorus with the growly aspect of Ivan's voice coming out and the song continues in a similar way with a calm guitar solo part way through which flows perfectly with the rest of the song. This comes across as the perfect song conveying everything it needs to incredibly well.

Honourable mentions for this album go to Sham Pain and Gone Away. Firstly for Sham Pain it is another perfect song, a heavier one with a jovial attitude which makes it fun but still brings across the powerful message that when you are famous you have the same struggles as everyone else but because you have money it is trivialised. I really enjoy this song and it's super catchy so gets stuck in my head for ages but that just makes it better. Now for Gone Away, this is another highly emotional song as it is about missing someone who has passed away and feeling that heaven is far away. This song again shows off Ivan's range as there are softer parts and heavier parts all the while conveying the strong emotions of the situation.

To finish then here are my ratings for each song on the album:

1. Fake - 8.5/10

2. Top Of The World - 9/10

3. Sham Pain - 10/10

4. Blue On Black - 9.5/10

5. Fire In The Hole - 8/10

6. I Refuse - 10/10

7. It Doesn't Matter - 8/10

8. When The Seasons Change - 8.5/10

9. Stuck In My Ways - 9/10

10. Rock Bottom - 8.5/10

11. Gone Away - 9.5/10

12. Bloody - 9/10

13. Will The Sun Ever Rise - 8.5/10