Take this line from “Darkness Settles In”: “Waiting for someone to save me/But everyone just runs away/Waiting for someone to change me/But no one ever comes.” Moody was the one who really went off the rails, and he does not mince words about his experiences on the new songs. Every band has to have at least one guy who is minding the business, who is sober and watching what’s happening and can navigate so you’re not hitting the iceberg.” “I was always the sober one basically herding cats, trying to get these guys to stay focused.
“Not that I don’t have a glass of wine with dinner, but I never had a problem,” he clarifies. While many of his bandmates partook in the party, Bathory was the sober one, and purposefully so. The Five Finger crew – which also includes guitarist Jason Hook, bassist Chris Kael and new drummer Charlie Engen – is aware of all the musicians lost in recent years due to depression and addiction, and their veteran members certainly received a talking to from various hard rock luminaries about the pitfalls of rock n’ roll excess. If I don’t make it, then this is what I wanted to say.’ Every other piece is the struggle.” But it was in his mind like, ‘Oh my God, I might not make it. “It’s not a suicide note per se because it was never his intention. “I think that the ‘Brighter Side Of Grey’ was something that he started to write a long time ago, when he was still struggling,” explains Bathory. Given that Moody’s struggles were not sudden, not all of his new lyrics gestated during their latest recording sessions. For 20 concert dates, he was replaced on tour by Phil Labonte and then Tommy Vext because his alcoholism had become too much for him to cope with and the band to tolerate. They express his insecurity, anger and hopefulness in dealing with an addiction that threatened his place in the band. Songs like “A Little Bit Off,” “To Be Alone” and “Darkness Settles In” chronicle the tumultuous ride to sobriety taken by the Five Finger frontman. Moody’s lyrics reflect someone who’s had more experiences with overcoming struggles. We’re really proud that we managed to do that without making it feel like it’s not the same band.” “How do you put those things in the same album without making it disjointed?” he muses. Bathory found getting the right balance between the super heavy songs and more acoustic moments to be challenging. The guitarist is proud of the diversity displayed on the new album with such tracks as the somber, electroacoustic ballad “Brighter Shade Of Grey” and the semi-acoustic, slightly dancey “A Little Bit Off.” One or more string instruments slip into a few tracks as well, including the metallic-symphonic intro to the album.
Still, he embraced a wider spectrum of vocal colors on F8.
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“So he did have it in his head that he wanted to sing more.” But when the guitarist whipped out more old school-style FFDP rockers like “Scar Tissue” and “This Is War,” Moody tackled them full bore. I like to sing,'” Bathory tells Billboard.
“Ivan did say when we were going to the studio, ‘You know what, sometimes all this screaming, I don’t know if I’m still there. I think this is a bit more diverse than that was.”Īnd after a difficult few years, Five Finger’s vocalist wanted to push himself. “I would say that probably opened up the aperture a bit wider. “We realized our fans love that stuff,” says Bathory. Bathory acknowledges that the experimentation they indulged in on the two-album set The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell a few years ago led to the revelation that their fans embraced a wider palette of music than they originally thought.