American Capitalist

Album: American Capitalist (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Five Finger Death Punch habitually choose provocative album titles - their second album, released in 2009, was War Is The Answer. For their third album, released in 2011, they went with American Capitalist, prompting some raised eyebrows and scratching of heads. Guitarist Jason Hook explained the thinking behind it to Loudwire: "We are five extremely driven and motivated individuals and I think capitalism, for me at least, says that we're always trying to capitalize on whatever our situation is at the time. We like opportunity, we like turn opportunity into bigger and better. A winner takes all mentality of capitalizing on the situation, whatever that is for you. For me, it's a positive thing, we're fighters, and we want everything. You work hard for your money so we work hard for your money."
  • Want to know where Five Finger Death Punch got their name from? Guitarist Zoltan Bathory came up with their moniker after watching a scene in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Vocalist Ivan Moody explained to Dabelly magazine: "Zoltan was watching Kill Bill 2, you know he's from Hungary, right? His sense of humor is a little bit different, so to him I guess it was the funniest thing in the world, this five finger lotus punch or whatever it was. And I guess it started out as a joke thing, he said, 'This would be a great band name' and yada, yada, yada. When they came to me they were actually thinking about changing it and I told them, 'Dude, that is the most killer heavy metal band name ever. That's like Slayer, that's Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, it sits well with me.' I pushed it around in my own head to make it work a little bit more metaphorically, but yeah, it came from Kill Bill 2."

    The move is actually called the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique." Bathory misremembered it as the "Five Finger Death Punch."

Comments: 1

  • Kevin from Kenyait's Great to have 5FDP band metal music scene.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."