Recently stumbling upon the fact I missed that Five Finger Death Punch has released new material, I ramped up quickly once I heard “A Little Bit Off Today” and had almost every emotion come to life inside of one song. A quick trip to Amazon music and I now own F8 and within the hour, started this review.
Quite simply, this is what it is like to listen to a classic being born.
F8 starts off quietly, with oddly enough an F8 instrumental intro. Slow at first, as if to give you a breather. Heads up; take it cause the next 2 songs are all out energy and rage. By song 3 you start off with the same intensity but you certainly feel a shift.
To illustrate – Inside Out is your traditional Five Finger that mixes Moodys rage into melodic raw emotion that has become his and the bands trademark. Full Circle again is again a good song but nothing new. In fact, these first 2 songs again make you go “yea, this is 5FDP” and that’s not a bad thing. But it’s not really separate yourself from your past, is it? Growth I believe some call it.
Living The Dream we start to see the shift. Not immediately, no. But through the course of the song you’ll sense a chance in pace and attitude. We slow down in how we deliver the message, a bit. But the intensity never goes away.
And now we get to where I discovered F8 was now available. A Little Bit Off today as far as I’m concerned drives the bands personal growth home. We go from just being a little off and not knowing why to having to say goodbye to someone close. How you can contain and focus such rage I will never be able to fathom. Even the production is a little bit off to start. When you have that attention to detail in such a form of art, you have just posted tomorrows classic song today. That’s where A Little Bit Off Today stands to me. Instant classic.
However it’s not the best song off F8.
But before we get to where I place that award, I want to reiterate that if you’re into the 5FDP MOSH PITS, you’re covered. You’ve got many many more of those in the future for that eventual day when we’re allowed to slam into each other again without fear of social retribution. I mean, hell; isn’t a mosh pit all about social retribution anyway? Where oh where did we go wrong? Where ever that was, I’m letting F8 (fate, get it?) bring it back.
As usual I won’t get into each and every song. I prefer to call out my personal highlights as a point of reference. From there, it’s up to you to go discover the rest and do it with an open mind. But before I bow out; which song was my favorite?
I’m writing this in case I’m gone tomorrow
I’m writing this in case I’ve moved along
There’s something that I hope you’ll remember
That life is not a game, it’s a song
To put such a timeless issue we all face into such perspective, drawing upon every emotion you own in a few short moments of time, is growth defined. While much of F8 is simply carrying their name brand and hallmark sound forward; the manner in which they do it is what defines epic.
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