Death Punch gives bands mainstream exposure

August 9, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

In the musical world, the road has long served as a place for headlining bands to bring out their friends or unknown acts that have eluded the mainstream.

As headliner of Metal Hammer’s Trespass America Festival, which comes to Stage AE in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, heavy- metal act Five Finger Death Punch is doing both with openers Battlecross, God Forbid, Emmure, Pop Evil, Trivium and Killswitch Engage.

“It’s an opportunity to team up with a bunch of bands that aren’t mainstream bands and kind of trespass them in mainstream territory,” said Five Finger Death Punch drummer Jeremy Spencer, calling from Waterloo, Iowa. “It’s kind of like how the guys in Disturbed always treated us really good. They took us out before we did the Mayhem tour. And Korn has always treated us really good. It’s basically a way to kind of return the favor. We’re fans of the music.”

Fondly referred to as knuckleheads, fans of Five Finger Death Punch are excited about the group’s recently released third studio effort, “American Capitalist,” which found the Los Angeles-based band returning to a bigger bang sound with infectious melodies and intricate songwriting.

The outfit arrived on the music scene with its 2007 debut, “The Way of the Fist,” which was followed up by 2009’s “War is the Answer.” Both albums surpassed gold status, which today is tantamount to platinum releases from a decade ago. Those albums produced seven consecutive top-10 singles at active rock radio.

As for “American Capitalist,” Spencer said for him, the album represents going to extremes. This includes more emotional ballads alongside just heavier songs.

Recorded in Las Vegas with producer Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne), the 11-track effort includes the pummeling “If I Fall,” the heavy “Menace” and the brutally honest “Remember Everything.” Then there’s the latest single, “Coming Down.” Not normally known as a message band, Five Finger Death Punch decided to use its video as a vehicle for suicide awareness.

“It’s a great thing to have in people’s minds and in their faces,” Spencer said. “It was perfect timing for us to release it, and we’re getting a lot of positive response from the fans. People saying, ‘Thanks, it got me through a tough time where I lost a loved one because of suicide. I wish the song was around earlier.’ Basically, we’re just letting you know there is help out there and you can pick up the phone and talk to someone rather than going to such an extreme permanent measure.”

On a lighter note, Five Finger Death Punch added its track “From Out of Nowhere” to the “The Avengers” soundtrack. Though Spencer said he’s not much of a comic-book fan, he admits there is a character from the recently released blockbuster movie that epitomizes Five Finger Death Punch’s place in the rock world.

“If we had to be a character, it would probably be The Hulk,” Spencer said. “It’s because he’s angry and he smashes the [expletive] out of things. So, sure, why not; it goes along with the Punch.”