By 2012, Five Finger Death Punch had already become established as one of the biggest metal bands in America – but as guitarist Zoltan Bathory recalls to MusicRadar, they were still blown away when one of their heroes agreed to record a track with them.
The band’s rise had been rapid. Their debut album The Way Of The Fist topped out at No 107 on the Billboard 200, but in 2009 the follow-up War Is The Answer shot to No 7, and in 2011 their third album American Capitalist climbed all the way to No 3.
War Is The Answer was the band’s first album to be produced by Kevin Churko, who had previously worked on Ozzy Osbourne’s 2007 album Black Rain. In the following years Churko continued to work with both acts, producing Osbourne’s 2010 album Scream and then FFDP’s American Capitalist.
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So when the band began work on their fourth record – elaborately titled The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Volume 1 – Ozzy was the first guy they thought of when they discussed having another singer performing a duet with FFDP frontman Ivan Moody. And this idea led, indirectly, to a collaboration with another legendary British rock singer – Rob Halford of Judas Priest, known to his fans as the Metal God.
As Zoltan Bathory recalls: “When we started working on that record there was this one song, Lift Me Up, that had like a nostalgic ’80s vibe. I think it was Jason Hook, our old guitar player, who brought that riff in.
“I usually play most of the rhythm, that’s my thing, and I have a heavier hand, so we made the song a little bit heavier, but it still had that ’80s vibe. So I told the guys, ‘We should call this song 1986 or something like that’ – because that was the greatest time in heavy metal, right?
“That was when [Metallica’s] Master Of Puppets came out, and that was one of the moments in heavy metal. So I’m like, ‘Let’s call this song 1986 to give praise to the golden era of heavy metal.’ So that’s how the conversation started.
“And then we said, ‘Well, you know, Kevin worked with Ozzy Osbourne.’ So I said, ‘What if Ozzy sang on this song?’ But then I said, ‘How about Rob Halford? The Metal God!’ Everybody else went, ‘Nah, that’s a crazy dream.’”
Bathory, however, knew something that the other guys didn’t.
He continues: “I read an article where Rob was talking about new bands. And Rob is really into heavy metal, like really into it. After all these years, he just loves heavy metal. There’s nothing fictitious or fake about it.
“He’s loved metal his whole life, and still to this day he listens to new bands. And I saw an interview where he talked about the new bands he likes, and he said he loved Five Finger Death Punch. That was both a shock – for a second – and an honour. Like, this is freaking Rob Halford, you know?
“So that’s how this whole thing started. We reached out to Rob and the first time, the first phone call, he was like, ‘Yes, 100%, I’d love to do it.’”
Halford travelled to the band’s hometown of Las Vegas to record his part for the track.
Bathory recalls his nervousness when he collected his hero from Vegas airport.
He smiles: “I’m driving my car and I’m gonna take the scenic route because I’m gonna enjoy this ride. I had a British car, and Rob Halford is sitting next to me, and we’re going to eat sushi, and I’m telling him, ‘Dude, I had posters of you on my wall.’
“I tried to keep it professional. I wasn’t totally geeking out. But all the time I was thinking, ‘Don’t go fast. Don’t crash. You have the Metal God in your car!’”
Bathory was thrilled to watch the legendary singer at work in the studio.
“Just think about that moment,” he says now. ‘Through that little window, there is Rob Halford laying down that golden voice of his. I mean, that’s something I will always remember.”
Lift Me Up was released as the album’s flagship single on 2 May 2013 and helped propel The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Volume 1 to No 2 on the Billboard 200.
Bathory also credits Rob Halford for his powerful influence on Ivan Moody’s personal life. Halford overcame addictions to alcohol and drugs in the ’80s and helped in Moody’s recovery.
“He stayed involved in our lives,” Bathory says. “Rob Halford had a massive hand in Ivan getting sober.
“Rob is one of Ivan’s idols, and he would take the time to talk to him. Like, ‘You have everything in your life, you’re super talented, don’t screw this up.’ So Rob would be voice of reason for Ivan.
“We also toured together with Priest in 2014, which was amazing. Imagine this: Rob Halford every single night would come to the stage and watch our whole show. Every night. He’s absolutely real.”
