“The Wrong Side Of Heaven…” part one takes Five Finger Death Punch down a notch from their previous “American Capitalist”… the band may be in a popularity, and commercial high, but artistically it shows the first signs of weakness. On the other hand, having released already three strong albums, you might expect a weaker one, especially when we are talking about a the first of two albums in a row, and more than 20 songs in total.
Kevin Churko is handling the production with his expected superb work, which is one of the band’s characteristics anyway. Plus, there are several collaborations from Rob Halford, Max Cavalera, Jamey Jasta, Maria Brink and rapper (!) Tech N9ne. I wouldn’t say that any of them makes any difference, and especially Metal God’s vocals might as well go down unnoticed, if you don’t know that he is singing on his song. Also, the choice of covering LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out” with Thech N9ne, might looked good on paper, and surely will give them some more airplay on US radio, but I didn’t enjoy it at all. Those that do stand though are the title track, which follows Five Finger Death Band’s successful recipe of power ballads, “Anywhere But Here”, “Diary Of A Deadman”, and “Lift Me Up”.
It’s really interesting to listen to the second part of the project, which is going to be released before the end of the year, following a trend on which Greenday (with three albums!) and Stone Sour preceded them. Is it going to be better, worse, or of the same? We have to wait and listen…
However, if you choose to invest on the Deluxe edition you will be able to enjoy an amazing best of live recorded set that will give justice to your choice!
