Playlist: Five Finger Death Punch

Modern metal machine Five Finger Death Punch have been riding high on their 2007 debut The Way of the Fist and the mainstream success of their single "The Bleeding." A staple in the hard rock/metal spectrum, FFDP are made up of former members of U.P.O, Motograter and W.A.S.P. They not only know a thing or two about music, but they've been in this game for a long time -- which is probably why when we caught up with lead axemen Zoltan Bathory and Darrell Roberts to talk music, we got one long list of their favorite songs to speed and geek out to. Check out the playlist on Rhapsody.com right here.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

Demon Hunter, “I Play Dead”

Zoltan: "It’s difficult to pick one because I like most of their stuff, and on their record Summer of Darkness, there are a couple of really good songs. For example, “I Play Dead” --I love that song. Generally, I like songs that have huge choruses. I’m into straight up metal and these guys are writing really, really great metal. The choruses are pretty nice and the riffs are heavy, so you have both worlds. It’s definitely on my work out mix."

Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy Train”

Darrell: "Cause the opening riff in that song is pretty much the reason why I play guitar. That slide that Randy Rhodes does, and those first chords. [Sings riff] When I heard that, I was like, “I want to do exactly that right there.” And I looked a lot like him at the time -- I think I had the same haircut. I was obsessed with Randy Rhodes."

Killswitch Engage, “End of Heartache” & "Daylight Dies”

Zoltan: “End of Heartache is my favorite record from Killswitch Engage. I listen to it really often… In my car, I jam the hell out of this. But particularly the song I love is “End of Heartache.” And I can give you two, “Daylight Dies” -- I love that song too. It’s pretty much speeding tickets on that one. That is my speeding ticket song. I love that band.”

Pantera, “I'm Broken”

Darrell: “Again, being a guitar player, the first riff he does in that song, and the tone he had, so loud in the mix; so in your face, so heavy and crunchy-sounding. To me, it’s one of the coolest metal riffs ever written. And Pantera’s songs are just riddled in those kind of riffs but that song in particular, it almost has a Leslie West Mountain/ old blues rock kind of thing. But when you put that tone on it and you put those vocals on it, to me, it’s just straight up Texas kick-your-*ss metal."

Disturbed, “Prayer” & “Stricken”

Zoltan: “Let’s go with two songs from Disturbed. I think it’s funny that we’re touring with them. They’re actually one of my favorite bands. One of the songs would be “Prayer” and then my favorite song from Disturbed is “Stricken.” For me, it’s always the same formula: Your lead singer has to be able to sing and David [Draiman] can sing like holy sh*t. So again, it’s another band that has a great vocalist and huge, huge choruses. It’s the kind of thing like once you’ve heard it, it stays with you. You’re going to hum it in the shower, in the bathroom, wherever. Pretty much, that’s why I love that band.”

Disturbed, “Stupify”

Darrell: “I’ll pick a Disturbed one, too. “Stupify” -- that’s just one of the coolest, hooky-est, metal riffs maybe ever. When I first heard that, the way he spoke, the cadences, and all the animal noises he makes – the very first time I heard that song, I was like, “This is going to be the biggest metal band ever.” It’s just that catchy and it never gets old, I never get tired of hearing it. I watch it almost everyday on tour. They just got that thing. They’re one of those bands that’s timeless. They write great songs, they have great choruses, great hooks, and four-year-olds will love it and people 60 years old will love it; it’s just good music and good music will always have an audience. “

Alice in Chains, “Down in a Hole”

Darrell: “It’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The harmonies of Layne [Staley] and Jerry [Cantrell]’s voice, they blend that song. First of all, the song is in the key of A minor. And it’s just a sad, sad key to write a song in. Alicia Keys wrote a whole album in A Minor -- cause songs that are in that key bring out emotion. But that song, just the way the two vocals harmonize together and the way Layne’s voice sounds on the higher pitch when he’s screaming it out with the really pretty music in the background. It’s just one of the best songs ever written.”

W.A.S.P, “Hellion” & “Sleeping (In The Fire)”

Zoltan: “It’s actually going to be funny because I’m going to say W.A.S.P. And [Darrell] played in that band for six years. But again, OCD has to kick in because pretty much the first two records, I absolutely love every song so it’s hard to pick one, but I would go with that. I was going nuts on those records. I really love W.A.S.P. It’s kind of interesting that he played there.”

Yngwie Malmsteen, “Far Beyond the Sun”

Darrell: “I sat in my room for probably 8,000 hours trying to learn how to play that song. Literally, I would sit there for 15 hours straight. The Rising Force and Marching Out records: [sings guitar part] try to figure out that stuff. I got it where I could pull it off pretty good, but not that perfect. That stuff is ridiculously hard. You gotta sleep with your guitar to be able to play that perfect, like an arpeggio.”

Slipknot, “Duality”

Zoltan: And it’s funny because the song title is “Duality” but this time I’m just going to say one song. Just to be all controversial. Check it out! Look at the irony. It’s a complete Jedi trick. One of the reasons is because our lead singer arrived [early] every day, then blasted this song to 11 while everyone was trying to sleep. And scream from the top of his lungs this song. But actually it’s a really, really good f*cking song.”

Stone Sour, “Made of Scars”

Darrell: “Really, really good song. And again, the whole tour last summer, our singer would get hyped up and ready for the show listening to either Slipknot or Stone Sour. This tour, it’s Devil Driver. But last year it was Stone Sour so I heard “Made of Scars” like a million times and never really got sick of it. Great, great song. Great, great record, too.”

Accept, “Russian Roulette” & “TV War”

Zoltan: “I’m going to have to drop Accept. Not many people know this in the US. Every Accept record, I own. The live, double, Japanese --everything. I love Accept. Problem is, I can’t pick songs. One of my favorites, I would say, “Russian Roulette” and I really like, “TV War.” I mean, Accept has a catalogue, and has anybody ever saw them live?! I mean, it’s really like a machine. They just stomp your head in. It’s like “oh my God,” you know? Accept, absolutely. I grew up in Europe and for us they were Gods. Accept was the sh*t.“

Iron Maiden, “Wrathchild” & “Number of the Beast”

Zoltan: “I really liked the record, Killers cause the production -- Paul Dianno has more of a nosier sound, but I kind of like that. That record was kind of smooth. It has a vibe to it. I can’t explain what it is. It’s almost like they turned off all the highs or something on the mixing board. I don’t know what happened. But that record has something about it that just sounds so powerful. Maybe it’s just for me because Iron Maiden, that was the record that kind of brought me to metal. I was lucky. And the one from that record, “Wrathchild” -- that’s my favorite song of them.  But something from Iron Maiden is a very difficult one to pick because they have a catalogue. We almost covered “Number of the Beast” but another band is covering it. But that’s another song I really liked.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Simple Man” & “Tuesday’s Gone”

Darrell: “Every song Lynyrd Skynyrd ever made. My favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd songs are the ballads. Like, “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Simple Man,” they’re just so beautiful, emotional kind of songs -- movie soundtrack kind of songs. I love it.”

Megadeth, “Peace Sells” & "The Conjuring"

Darrell: “That whole record, one of my favorites. I was completely obsessed. I got the cassette of So Far, So Good, So What, I put it in my car -- this old Honda CRX. I used to drive like 50 miles every night to play shows in Cincinnati, and I had that cassette in that old CRX for months and that’s all I would listen to. I knew every lyric to every song, I knew how to play every song on guitar and I ended up auditioning for them. [but] got beat out by Marty Friedman. I was really, really young at that time. Wasn’t ready to take on a gig like that, but I sent them demo tapes and they actually flew me out to LA to audition -- I jammed with Dave Mustaine twice. I got to play in a rehearsal room, and I got to play “The Conjuring,” which was brutal. That stuff’s really hard, but I got to play with 'the man.'”

Stereomud, “Anything But Jesus”

Zoltan: “I love that song. That’s another speeding ticket song. I think it’s just a great groove and you see the whole list that we’ve made so far and it’s great songs, great vocalists. It’s one of the foundations. His voice is raspy, it’s almost like a grungy song but it’s a huge f*cking hook in that song. That record wasn’t really popular, but I just found it on a CD sampler and I’m like, 'Holy sh*t.'”

Motorhead, “Ace of Spades”

Darrell: “I don’t even have to explain why: Self-explanatory. “

Zoltan: “The very first concert of my life: Motorhead. And I didn’t speak any f*cking language but Hungarian. Just screaming, “Ace of Spades” --that was fun!”

Comments

[Jason aka sno :-P]

cool damn playlists.... making me wanna rock the hell out on the way home from work now woooooo!!!..... J :-P

[HOKUS]

Awesome that Stereomud made the list!!!! Eric Rogers is an amazing vocalist!!

[Lyric]

nice

[Cubbi]

They have excellent taste in music, I love their playlist, it's so cool