5FDP’s Zoltan Bathory talks all things ‘Best Of – Volume One’ with HeavyMag
As Five Finger Death Punch celebrates 20 years of metal dominance, founder and rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory sat down with Australia’s HEAVY Mag to discuss the band’s journey, the reimagined ‘Best Of – Volume 1‘ release, and what has kept 5FDP thriving in a changing industry.
“We Didn’t Know It Would Last” – The Band’s Early Turning Point
When asked whether he believed in the beginning that Five Finger Death Punch would have this kind of longevity, Bathory admitted there were no guarantees—but there was one unforgettable moment that made him believe.
“When you say it’s going to last… we didn’t know,” he said. “We did have a moment, however, where we kind of knew that we had something.”
“It was in the very beginning when we went to the studio to record our first vocal takes. The first record was done in my living room, the whole thing (laughs), so young bands out there, you can do it! We did it in my house, then went to the studio and recorded the first couple of songs, then we went back to my house, and we had a Beavis & Butthead moment.”
“Me and Ivan were jamming and thrashing around in my living room, kicking over couches, screaming ‘this is it, it’s gonna happen.’ So we had that early on. As for how long it’s gonna last… I mean, even now I look back and go ‘oh my God, 20 years.’ It’s crazy (laughs).”
That energy carried through as 5FDP launched their debut album, The Way of the Fist, in 2007—marking the beginning of a career that would go on to produce Gold and Platinum-certified albums, multiple world tours, and now, a commemorative “Best Of.”
Picking the tracks for ‘Best Of – Volume 1‘ was easier than you’d think
Bathory says narrowing down the track list wasn’t as tough as some might assume.
“Oh, this was actually fairly easy,” he said. “We simply looked at the 30 most popular songs – the ones fans are most attached to or listen to the most.”
The album includes re-recorded classics and select live favourites, alongside reconnecting fans with the songs that defined the band’s rise, the project also served as a necessary response after the group lost ownership of their original masters.
“At this point, everyone knows the story of what happened. Not that we wanted to, but we had to have an appropriate response.”
A Full-Circle Moment: Maria Brink Joins “I Refuse”
One of the most talked-about tracks on Best Of – Volume 1 is the newly re-recorded version of “I Refuse”, featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment. What may sound like a fresh pairing is actually the result of a connection that runs back to both bands’ earliest days.
“It’s not a well known historical fact that Maria [Brink] and Five Finger Death Punch has a long history actually,” Bathory shared. “So what really happened [was] back in the days before In This Moment and Five Finger Death Punch existed, there was a fairly popular local band in Hollywood, Los Angeles. This band, their name was ‘Deadsett,’ and this band did pretty well but just never exploded. When this band fell apart, half of the band went to In This Moment and the other half went to Five Finger Death Punch.”
The band Deadsett never broke into the mainstream, but its DNA lives on through both acts. Bathory explained that the connection between the two bands has always remained close.
“So we both got some parts of that band, so we both had a common trait from there. Our bass guitarist, at the time, Matt [Snell], who came from Deadsett, was the sound engineer on the original In This Moment demos. Then they got signed and very shortly after we got signed. Our careers kind of paralleled and we always kind of knew each other. We ended up touring together a few times actually.”
The idea to reintroduce “I Refuse” came up while assembling tracks for Best Of – Volume 1. Originally part of And Justice for None, the song was intended to be a single back in 2018—but never made it due to timing.
“When we were doing this 20 years of history, we already we knew we wanted to put out that song [‘I Refuse’], which was going to be a single, back in the day [2018], but we already had three singles at the time on the record [‘And Justice For None’], so we didn’t put out this song. It was kind of like a missed opportunity.”
That’s when the idea came to give the song a second chance by making it something new.
“So we thought, ‘well we can’t put it out as a single but if you put a feature on it, then it’s kind of a new song.’ So this fulfils the idea that we wanted this years and years ago to be a single [and] now it got to be a single because it has a feature and who else would be somebody who we knew even before Death Punch was a thing or even before In This Moment was a thing.”
The answer, of course, was Maria Brink.
“So that was kind of the perfect idea — you know what, it should be her [Maria Brink] and her voice was perfect.”
Then, as fate would have it, the timing lined up in a way that felt too perfect to ignore.
“And then, the coincidence, when we were talking about it and we reached out to Maria [Brink], ‘Like hey, would you do this?’, and she happened to be in Las Vegas the moment we called her. We all live in Las Vegas and she was in Vegas, in the studio where we recorded all our records [5FDP producer Kevin Churko has also produced In This Moment albums], so I’m like ‘That’s [something] you can’t ignore!’ The universe is speaking to you.”
“So I can’t ignore that coincidence. And it came out amazing. [We’re] very proud of it.”
The result is a collaboration rooted in history, friendship, and timing—bringing a long-overdue spotlight to a track that always deserved more.
‘Best of – Volume One’ has arrived
5FDP’s ‘Best of – Volume One’ is out now and fans can stream the album online as well as purchase CD and vinyl bundles. Get your copy of ‘Best Of – Volume One’ here.
Listen to the full interview with Zoltan Bathory and HeavyMag below for more insights and stories from the bands history as well as updates on their future plans.