2) Five Finger Death Punch

Assembled from the parts of other less successful bands (U.P.O and Motograter, anyone?), Five Finger Death Punch seemed to come from out of nowhere in 2007 with their debut album The Way of the Fist. They’d been together for a few years prior, but really took off once their debut album was released. In fact, their first three albums have gone gold, and their fourth and fifth albums, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volumes 1 and 2, are well on their way to each being gold as well. And that’s one of many reasons they’re so hated by metal fans. They’re definitely a heavy band, but they’re also a pretty contrived one. Like Godsmack before them, they write hooky, catchy songs that are undeniably metal, but extremely calculated. The fact that they connect with an active rock audience and sell so much more than so many other bands combined has made countless “true metal” fans lose their shit over the band’s success. You know who cares? Not Ivan Moody and company, who probably are rolling around in money, Scrooge McDuck style.