5FDP's Bathory dislikes metal sub-genres
Guitarist Zoltan says breaking metal down into categories takes focus away from the music
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Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory reveals he dislikes metal sub-genres as it takes the focus away from the music.
And he says he misses the “brotherhood” that previously united bands before it was fragmented into divisive categories.
He tells Ultimate Guitar: “I don’t even know what genre we would fall into. We are coasting on our own edge of hard rock and heavy metal. I don’t really care much for these sub-genres and that’s one of my peeves with heavy metal.
“At one point it was all just one big genre and it wasn’t broken down to these crazy sub-genres – and all these sub-genres don’t like each other any more. It was just one big brotherhood but that’s gone – it’s segregated into these little sub-cultures.”
He adds: “We still incorporate other styles so in some ways it’s accessible to a lot of people as there are a lot of elements from everywhere. Some people don’t like it because they say it’s not true to one specific genre.”
The band will support Judas Priest on their nine-date European tour next year and will also play on the same bill at Download in June.
Bathory said: “Download is a bona fide global rock ‘n’ roll destination. Everyone brings their A-game – the bands and the audience. You rarely see crazy crowds like this. It’s the place where we may have broken the record for biggest crowd surfing in recorded history.”
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Five Finger Death Punch are hoping to release a new album around the same time and stated they had four tracks recorded earlier this year.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.
