Five Finger Death Punch Bassist Chris Kael Talks ‘Lift Me Up’ at Mayhem

2013-07-29

Story by Anne Erickson

Interview: Five Finger Death Punch’s Chris Kael chat about ‘Lift Me Up’ and more at the Detroit stop of Mayhem

Things couldn’t get better for Five Finger Death Punch at the moment. Not only are the Las Vegas metal gents co-headlining the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival this summer, but they’re on the eve of releasing their latest studio album, “The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1,” tomorrow (July 30). The release presents 14 hard-charging alt-metal tracks, ranging from ultra-aggressive, pit-friendly metal songs to swelling ballads.

As for Mayhem, bass player Chris Kael says the festival’s momentum is crescendoing at every stop.

“Mayhem is going incredibly well. It seems like each show is getting bigger and bigger,” Kael told Audio Ink Radio from the tour’s Detroit-area show. “We’re leading up to the album coming out this Tuesday, so everything is in a really good spot for us.”

When Kael says the guys are in a “good spot,” chances are that relates to Five Finger Death Punch’s latest single, “Lift Me Up,” hitting No. 1 on the active rock radio chart last week.

The single features metal legend Rob Halford on vocals. Kael says working with Halford on “Lift Me Up” brought a full circle feeling.

“You know, that was an incredible experience, just to be able to work with someone who I’ve been working with for so long,” he said of collaborating with Halford. “To be able to have him singing on a track that we wrote and then to even at the Golden Gods awards have him come up onstage, and then to have me sing backup to him, it was pretty good. It’s one of those points when you can say, ‘All the decisions I made in life– I made the right ones.’”

As for the single going No. 1, Kael joked, “Our last record had the song ‘Coming Down’ go to No. 1, but now we have two No. 1 songs, so we’re no long a one-hit wonder!” He added, “You know, the first one is hard, and then when you get that second one, it makes you go, ‘Wow, we really have something that’s catching on here.’ And we have the new album coming out, and I think there are more singles on that, and then we have the second edition, so I’m really excited about that.”

Following Mayhem, Five Finger Death Punch are slated to keep touring and promoting the new music. That includes gearing up to release “The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2,” the second album in the series, which will drop sometime this fall.

“We’ll wrap up Mayhem towards the beginning of August, and from there, we have three weeks off, and then we’re going out on a headlining run with Escape the Fate, Miss May I and Gemini Syndrome, and then we have a big tour in Europe. We have the two albums coming out this year, and we’ll continue to tour. So, if we haven’t come to your town yet, be patient. We’ll be there. Relax. We’ve got you!”

For more on Five Finger Death Punch, head to the band’s official website.

(Photo credit: Anne Erickson.)




Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Features, Interviews, Metal, Music, Rock

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