Five Finger Death Punch: how a Las Vegas band became an arena act

On 1 June 2024 Five Finger Death Punch played Racino Rocks at Magna Racino near Vienna, one of the dates on their summer European tour where they supported Metallica. The Five Finger Death Punch gallery has photos from their set.

A band built in Las Vegas

Five Finger Death Punch formed in Las Vegas in 2005, put together by guitarist Zoltan Bathory, who took the name from the kung fu films he loved. Singer Ivan Moody joined early on, and their debut album, The Way of the Fist, arrived in 2007.

From there the band grew album by album. Their mix of groove metal riffs and melodic, radio-friendly choruses made them one of the most played heavy bands on American rock radio in the 2010s, with songs such as "Bad Company", their cover of the Bad Company classic, "Wrong Side of Heaven" and "Jekyll and Hyde".

Covers that became their own

Five Finger Death Punch have a knack for turning old songs into something heavier. Besides "Bad Company", they have recorded versions of "House of the Rising Sun" and "Gone Away", and live those covers often get some of the loudest singalongs of the night.

Changes and survival

The band's history has not been smooth. Line-up changes, Moody's well-documented struggles with addiction and long breaks from touring could have ended them. Instead, they kept going, and Moody's openness about recovery became part of how fans relate to the band.

Supporting Metallica

In 2024 Five Finger Death Punch toured Europe with a mix of their own headline shows and support dates for Metallica on the M72 World Tour. Racino Rocks was one of the latter, which meant playing in daylight to a crowd of tens of thousands, many of whom had come for the headliner and stayed for the riffs.

See the Five Finger Death Punch photos, plus Metallica and Ice Nine Kills from the same day.