Last month, Five Finger Death Punch found themselves in an unusual situation: getting sued by their label, Prospect Park, for releasing music too fast. Well though they still owe Prospect Park one more album (and are still in the midst of a legal battle with them), the band has already announced its future label home, and their choice might surprise you.
It was announced that Five Finger Death Punch has signed with Rise Records. The group’s debut via the label will come after they fulfill their contractual obligations to Prospect Park (whenever that might occur). Guitarist Zoltan Bathory had the following to say about FFDP’s new label home:
“We are looking forward to the next phase of our recording career. We have had great success with our current label, Prospect Park, and will continue to enjoy further success with our next and final album (subject to surmounting the label’s court action to prevent us from recording it), after which we will commence a new and exciting label partnership with the people at Rise and BMG.”
Craig Ericson, CEO of Rise Records, also added the following:
“I’m honored to be working with one of the biggest arena rock bands in the world. I’m very confident in the future of Five Finger Death Punch and Rise Records and can’t wait to hear the music they make with our company.”
First off, this is an enormous get for Rise Records (who’ve been diversifying its roster quite a bit these past few years). As we’ve mentioned numerous times, Five Finger Death Punch is one of the few bands to consistently sell records (2015’s Got Your Six alone sold over 119,000 copies in its first week), not to mention get considerable radio airplay and draw huge crowds to its shows. While they may not be critical darlings, they’re the type of rock band any label would dream of having on its roster.
With that said, we are a little surprised by the announcement. Nothing against Rise Records, but we frankly would’ve assumed that Eleven Seven was the most likely place Five Finger Death Punch would’ve ended up. Not only is Eleven Seven the band’s label everywhere outside of North America, but they’re also managed (or at least was) by 10th Street Entertainment, whose founder Allen Kovac also launched Eleven Seven.
Though what’s possibly even more shocking is the fact that Five Finger Death Punch has already announced a new label home at all. As mentioned, FFDP still owe Prospect Park one more album, and it might still take a while for said album to even be completed due to the current legal battle (and if you believe the band’s side of the story, Prospect Park has been trying to drag out the band’s split from them, hence their lawsuit). So it’s surprising that the group has announced their new label so soon. Then again, for a band that produces new albums so frequently, maybe it’s not surprising that they’re moving so fast behind the scenes as well.
From left: Bassist Chris Kael, Manager Jackie Kajzer, Drummer Jeremy Spencer, singer Ivan Moody, Rise Record’s Craig Ericson, guitarist Jason Hook & guitarist Zoltan Bathory
