This is Five Finger Death Punch’s second album. Coined after a catchphrase by the band on human nature, it makes sense in light of the fact that, as part of our human nature, human beings are competitive and will begin fights just to survive. Hence, the Charles Darwin theory of survival. The band were gradually cementing their status as a unique Metal group with a great fanbase. Six singles were released from this album, and this was their last album to feature bassist Matt Snell, and the first album of theirs to feature guitarist Jason Hook. Let’s take a listen to this album and we shall hear, indeed, if it is a musical blueprint for World War III.

Dying Breed begins with some awesome and crunchy distorted guitars, launching into a fantastic and very Heavy tune. This is amazingly fantastic for those of you who love Metal and similar genres of heavily distorted music. The chorus is very Fear Factory sounding. This is a really fantastic listen with profanities, screaming, deep-throaty vocals and lyrical references to war and violence. All in all, a really great listen. The guitar solo is very unique and interesting to listen to, only coming close to the likes of Slayer. Some manic shredding follows, and this tune is a real winner. A fantastic listen from start to finish, and something quite memorable. Worth your ears, the outro sounds insane.

Hard To See begins with a faded intro of guitars and other sounds, quickly launching into a tremendous effort that sounds really cool. This tune has some straightforward singing, to begin with, and this is a more melodic and different-sounding song that is a bit more like Rock than Metal, really. Eventually, chugging guitars do enter and this song is about expressing emotions and other deep sentiments in a Metal way. The guitar work on this tune is really excellent, and this sounds great in the second half, with a screamed vocal leading into a gloriously loud guitar solo. It is a fantastic listen, and even if you are not into harder and heavier styles of music, this works extremely well for the listener. A great tune to listen to, although the melodic side of Five Finger Death Punch is not as good as their punchier and heavier, more Metal side. A good song nonetheless.

Bulletproof begins with more extreme palm-muted guitar riffing and crashing drums. It is another one of the deeper and heavier tunes that Five Finger Death Punch does so well. This is about coping and being strong in the face of loss. This is heavy, gritty and thrashy-sounding music that is really aggressive and gives a new way of describing the word angry in a song format. A really great listening experience, some excellent palm muted soloing is in the second half of this song which sounds really awesome. A loud and furious tune to listen to, this sounds powerful and wonderful for what it is. A good listen, although some of the lyrical imagery may not appeal to non-Metalheads. Great song to listen to, it ends with a heavily treated guitar riff.

No One Gets Left Behind is another heavy and driven song with some top-notch guitar riffing. The whole band sound like they are ready to start the next World War indeed, and it is up to you whether or not you join the group along the way. This has some more melodic singing present in the song, and it is a really great and varied listening experience that works wonderfully. A fantastic listening experience that is great Heavy Metal music and something extraordinarily wonderful, this is an emotional listen with loud guitars and excellent musicianship that gives the likes of most Pop musicians a real run for their money. Best to enjoy in a serious and sober mood, this is great Heavy Music.

Crossing Over is a moody and melancholy piece from the start, with a mournful guitar riff, and double kick drums and launches into a song about passing on from this earth. A more moody, pseudo-ballad piece of music that sounds really awesome and terrific throughout, this is for those of you who like emotional and driven music that is powerful and like a punch in the face. The song has a fantastic wah-wah guitar solo in the second half of it that sounds really fantastic. A great listening experience about the tragedies of loss in life, but it is a reassuring listening experience about such loss of life. A good tune.

Burn It Down begins with deep, drop-tuned guitars and launches into a chaotic fury of drum-led playing. The rhythm guitars present are absolutely fantastic. This quickly launches into an energetic and fantastic tune that is powerfully punchy and mosh pit territory musically. Nonetheless, this is a really killer song with some aggressive and manic screaming throughout. The music present is really cool and awesome to listen to, and the music is something that arsonists would love listening to, presumedly. The second half has a moody, melodic guitar solo and is followed by some good and frenetic lead guitar soloing. A furious listen for those who have anger management issues, this still sounds very good, to this day. Another decent song to listen to, this is the musical equivalent of the emotion of hatred set to a song. Very punchy.

Far From Home begins with some crisp, clear acoustic guitar and launches into an emotional ballad with some great singing and violins to match. This is a very emotional listening experience that proves that the musicianship and playing by Five Finger Death Punch is about living in despair. It quickly launches into a great but sad song about being caught up in negativity throughout. This is not upbeat or happy Pop music. Instead, it is a powerful and moving power ballad with some great playing and singing, including a great guitar solo in the second half of the song. An excellent listening experience, this is one of the songs that makes sense in a low mood. A sad but pretty song, Five Finger Death Punch can do it all. It ends with some very dark sounds, not a happy song.

Falling To Hate launches right into it with some chaotic drumming and guitars. It sounds like the Death Metal version of Black Sabbath and is extremely heavy sounding as a result. The singing Ivan Moody sounds very brutal, throaty and aggressive throughout. A very cool listening experience, the vocals on this particular track are insane. The music does sound gloriously good, regardless. It is obviously about relationship issues but done in a quirky and heavy way. Some excellent riffs are playing throughout this song. This does sound gloriously good and is worth hearing if you dig very Heavy Music. A cool tune regardless.

My Own Hell begins with downturned guitar riffs and sounds quite good. Although this is very good music, the negativity musically and emotionally does wear down the listener a bit. Still, it sounds very good for what it is overall. This sounds a lot like Evanescence here, and it is a really down-sounding tune. A really distressing-sounding listen, with some of the most aggressive singing and playing that one can hear by Five Finger Death Punch throughout their career. A loud, chaotic and interesting listening experience with palm-muted guitar riffing throughout, this does sound very good. A decent song, but still a bit too negative to really be totally enjoyable. It does sound good for what it is, but is not the most pleasant song out there. It ends with a glorious scream and muted riffing.

Walk Away begins with some interesting guitar work with riffing and pinch harmonics galore. This is again, a good listen and it sounds quite fresh to this day. A really great listening experience to hear, this is about emotional despair and heartbreak throughout. Musically, this is very accomplished but the negativity of the music isn’t really a selling point on this album. It is about relationship issues and a breakup set to super Heavy Music, and it sounds very deep, pained and emotional listening. It does have a very Slash-like guitar solo in the second half, and it sounds very nicely played indeed. Towards the end are multitracked acoustic guitars, and this tune is a real winner. A great and interesting song to listen to, and it has a dramatic conclusion.

Canto 34 begins with some electric guitar volume swells and backwards guitar parts, which sound different. It quickly launches into another straightforward piece by Five Finger Death Punch. This is an instrumental, but it does sound decent, groovy and classy for what it is. Sometimes music speaks louder than lyrics, and this is obviously the case so here on this piece. A nice section of guitar work is present with shredding and heavy vibes throughout. The riffs are as equally as fantastic, and the music is an interesting listen for an instrumental. A really great tune to listen to, this does showcase the fine guitar work and musicianship by the group. It does sound fantastic throughout. The unique blend of heaviness and musicianship here is excellent. Some sad acoustic guitar playing enters towards the end of this song, and it wraps up with some atmospheric strings, acoustic guitar playing and volume swells on electric guitar before finishing with backwards guitars. Different.

Bad Company is a cover of a song by Bad Company done by Five Finger Death Punch. It sounds really excellent from the start and is a great take on a Classic Rock tune. It sounds very top-notch and brilliant, and this is a supercharged cover. It very much sounds like the musical equivalent of sculling an energy drink in one go. This song is excellent and the rendition of it is glorious indeed. This is also an odd choice by Five Finger Death Punch to listen to. The guitar work and drumming are also worth mentioning here, and the brutal lyrical message and musical sentiments work very well here. A very pretty and unique listening experience throughout, this sounds very amazing as a cover tune. It continues ongoing in the second half with a power and fury that few can match. A great listening experience, this sounds a joyous listen for what it is. A very accomplished cover.

War Is The Answer begins with super drop-tuned guitars and launches into a powerful and furious listening experience. It sounds extremely aggressive and powerful throughout, with some excellent uses of profanities, screaming and abuse in general. A really great listening experience and this is no doubt a great title track for this album. A really great listening experience, this is supercharged, energetic and powerful. “To me, you’re just a cancer, motherfucker, war is the answer!” is a fantastic climatic lyrical line and the music throughout is really awesome, complete with a shred based and dramatically played guitar solo. A great song to listen to, and one of the better Five Finger Death Punch songs. It has a fantastic ending.

Walk Away (Live) is an extra track on this release. It begins with a ton of crowd noise and launches into a really great tune to listen to that sounds brutal, aggressive and great to listen to. This is proof that Five Finger Death Punch could cut it well as a live group, too. Nonetheless, an enjoyable and powerful musical rendition that sounds really awesome. The music is a really deep and emotional sentiment throughout. The group sound like they are on a great musical level. The guitar solo by Jason Hook here is very, very good. He plays in a fairly unique way and this song has some great interaction between the band and the crowd as well. A really great listening experience, this ends with some guitar playing and loud crowd cheering. Very good.

This is a good and heavy album that is worth paying attention to if you are a Metal fan. It covers a great deal of emotions including despair, aggression, power and warfare. However, this not only isn’t Five Finger Death Punch’s best album, but it is also fairly musically negative. Having said that, this is still definitely listenable as an album. Should you listen to this album? If you like Metal of any sort, this should not be an issue for you. However, the negativity lyrically and musically does drag it down a bit.

War is most definitely the answer.

7/10