Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody has opened up about his time in rehab and told Metal Hammer what he’s learned from the experience.
Moody took a step back from the band’s live commitments in June after a chaotic show in the Netherlands, later admitting he had “fallen off the wagon again.”
He spent time in rehab and re-emerged with 5FDP on their new single Trouble, which launched last month.
Asked about what he learned during his time in rehab, Moody tells this month’s edition of Metal Hammer: “I learned a lot about myself. Things that I had forgotten.
“I learned what it was like to not battle myself anymore, which is really difficult to admit, because at the end of the day – and I’m sure anyone can agree with this – you’re your own worst enemy.
“I just got to a point where I was lying to myself constantly, so I had to face up to that. It was a lot of, I don’t want to use the words ‘self sacrifice’, but that’s what it felt like. It was giving up who I thought I was and starting over from scratch and realising the man that I am was good enough.”
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Guitarist Zoltan Bathory reports that Moody is looking healthier and happier since leaving rehab – and reveals that the band weren’t able to use pyros during their live performances if the singer had been drinking in case there was an accident.
Bathory says: “Ivan was a functioning alcoholic – this guy could probably fly the space shuttle drunk and you wouldn’t even know.
“You wouldn’t notice that he was drunk until he’d say something really bizarre, and then you were like, ‘Oh shit, you’re drunk!’
“Now we go out and the machine is absolutely precise, to the minute. He’s actually where he’s supposed to be, meaning that if we wanted to use pyro, now we can. Before, you couldn’t tell him, ‘Don’t stand there,’ because he will.”
Five Finger Death Punch will release a 16-track compilation titled A Decade Of Destruction on December 1 and kick off their European tour with In Flames and Of Mice & Men tonight (November 14) in Helsinki.
Find further details below.
The full interview with Five Finger Death Punch features in the new edition of Metal Hammer magazine, which is on sale now.
Five Finger Death Punch A Decade Of Destruction tracklist
- Trouble
- Gone Away
- Lift Me Up
- Wash It All Away
- Bad Company
- Under And Over It
- Wrong Side Of Heaven
- House Of The Rising Sun
- I Apologize
- The Bleeding
- Jekyll And Hyde
- Remember Everything
- Coming Down
- My Nemesis
- Battle Born
- Far From Home
Five Finger Death Punch 2017 tour dates with In Flames and Of Mice & Men
Nov 14: Helsinki Hartwell Arena, Finland
Nov 16: Gothenburg Scandinavium, Sweden
Nov 17: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
Nov 20: Copenhagen Scandinavium, Denmark
Nov 21: Hamburg Sportshalle, Germany
Nov 22: Berlin Velodrome, Germany
Nov 24: Oberhausen KP Arena, Germany
Nov 26: Prague Forum Karlin, Czech Republic (with Of Mice & Men)
Nov 28: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland (with Of Mice & Men)
Nov 29: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Nov 30: Padova Geox Theatre, Italy (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 02: Stuttgart HMH Schleyerhalle, Germany
Dec 04: Paris Olympia, France (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 05: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 06: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Dec 08: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 11: Madrid Wizink Centre, Spain
Dec 12: Barcelona Sant Jordi Club, Spain
Dec 14: Antwerp Lotto, Belgium (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 15: Amsterdam AFAS Live, Netherlands (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 17: Birmingham BCA, UK (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 18: Glasgow Hydro, UK (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 20: Leeds Arena, UK (with Of Mice & Men)
Dec 21: London Wembley Arena, UK (with Of Mice & Men)
