Five Finger Death Punch and Taylor Swift probably don’t have a lot in common musically, but the metal outfit is similar to the pop superstar in at least one respect.
Like Swift, Five Finger Death Punch decided to rerecord their music after their former label sold the band’s master recordings. The result is a two-volume compilation, Best Of, featuring newly rerecorded versions of the biggest Death Punch hits.
In order for the project to be successful, fans would have to listen to the rerecorded versions over the originals, as the Swifties did. While they don’t have the numbers to match Swift’s fandom, guitarist Zoltan Bathory tells ABC Audio that the FFDP legion is just as passionate, dubbing them the “craziest fans in the metal world.”
“So we kind of knew that, OK, we could also do this, and the fans will understand the assignment,” Bathory laughs. “And they did.”
Case in point: the first single off the first Best Of volume, “I Refuse” featuring In This Moment‘s Maria Brink, hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The second volume’s single, “The End” featuring BABYMETAL, currently sits in the top five.
Getting to celebrate “I Refuse” was particularly meaningful for Death Punch, as it was a favorite among the band members but wasn’t initially released as a single.
“It’s a little bit of a satisfaction that a song that we wanted to be a single back in the day now got to be a single, and got the spotlight it deserved and it went #1,” Bathory says.
As for how the rerecordings compare to the originals, Bathory feels there’s generally a “different vibe.”
“Instead of creating something, you’re performing it,” he says. “So it’s gonna have a performative energy.”
Both Best Of volumes are out now.
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