Love them or hate them, Five Finger Death Punch are one of the most successful hard rock or metal bands of the past decade. They’ve been reliably cranking out gold albums since 2007’s The Way of the Fist, and their most recent album, Got Your Six, has sold over 336,000 in less than a year. However, according to TMZ, the band’s label Prospect Park is suing the band for “Shameless attempting to cash in before the anticipated downfall of their addicted bandmate,” meaning frontman Ivan Moody. The lawsuit, filed April 21st in California Superior Court, cites the band’s four-album contract signed in 2012, which states that the band wouldn’t record any music any earlier than nine months after their last album was recorded. The September 4th release of Got Your Six means that they can’t record the follow-up until at least June 4, 2016.
Furthermore, the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by Blabbermouth, states that the band’s cancellation with Black Sabbath is a result of Moody being in rehab. Here’s a portion of the lawsuit that states that:
“In recent months, members of FFDP and their representatives have repeatedly told Prospect Park of their extreme concern for the health and well-being of Moody, whose escalating substance abuse is placing both the future of FFDP, and indeed his life, at risk. FFDP’s own words demonstrate this fact: (a) a November 28,2015 text that the ‘the writing is on the wall,’ and that, ‘it’s a matter of time before [Ivan] hits the wall — and once he does — it will be too late to sell’; (b) a December 3, 2015 email stating: ‘if Ivan does something stupid — dies…., goes away to jail — then the catalog is a bust — then we won’t be able to sell and we’ll be trying to salvage what we can — IF we can … so to me it’s imperative to make a move and sell]’; (c) a January 8, 2015 text referring to Ivan as a ‘ticking time bomb’ that was getting in the way of an “8 digit payday” for FFDP; (d) a January 19, 2016 text stating: ‘there is no sign of him slowing down both his health and his behavior is deteriorating — heaps of legal troubles and he is burning the candle at both ends.’; and (e) a January 19, 2016 text stating: ‘I don’t want to cry doomsday … but I don’t want to be saying I told you so either (as far as Ivan is concerned) — there is a moment we need to cash out the chips — betting one more hand is almost irresponsible at this point.” More recently, [the members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH] have notified [Prospect Park] that Moody is in an in-patient rehabilitation facility for an unknown duration of time.”
The suit essentially states that the band is trying to record an album, knowing that the end could be near for the band. It also states that radio has “told Prospect Park that the ‘sound’ of FFDP is getting stale.” Really, at the end of the day, if Moody is getting the help he needs, the ‘sound’ of their music shouldn’t have anything to do with it. Radio has a limited shelf life, and the band should be happy, ecstatic even, that they’ve had a decade of gold and platinum albums. There’s few current bands that can say that about one of their albums. And what’s the difference between a rushed FFDP album and one they take their time on? Would anyone know the difference? We’re talking about a band that released a double album six months apart in 2013. . And by this dirty laundry being aired, it may well speed up the demise of the band.
Meanwhile, the band is teasing something in Fall of 2016 on their Facebook page. Judging from the footage it could just a live album, which could be a stopgap solution, but something’s got to give.
