Five Finger Death Punch and Megadeth hit Montage Mountain in Scranton on Sept. 23
From a press release:
Today, multi-platinum-selling hard rock/metal band Five Finger Death Punch released “AfterLife,” the title track from their forthcoming studio album.
Their longtime collaborator Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Papa Roach, Skillet) helmed the producer duties of this ninth and arguably most diverse record for the group.
Now available to stream and download across all major platforms, the track’s release coincides with 5FDP’s announcement of their upcoming 2022 North American headlining tour presented by Live Nation, kicking off in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 19. The tour will span over 30 dates, closing out on Oct. 15 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They will be joined by heavy metal icons Megadeth, with additional support from The Hu and Fire from the Gods, promising an intense, multi-faceted night of heavy rock music.
Before stopping at Hersheypark Stadium (100 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey) on Saturday, Sept. 24, all four bands will perform at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton on Friday, Sept. 23 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 15 at 10 a.m. via livenation.com. A pre-sale begins Thursday, March 14 at 10 a.m. using the code ROADIE, and Hazleton active rock radio station 97.9X is giving away pairs of tickets all this week; see contest rules at 979x.com.
In addition to these announcements, 5FDP has also launched the official Five Finger Death Punch Fan Club. Fans joining will have exclusive first access to pre-sale tickets before anyone else starting today at 10 a.m. The Fan Club is available as a stand-alone app in the Apple, Android, and Google Play app stores and is both a community for the most diehard fans as well as the official one-stop shop for the latest 5FDP news. Premium members will receive numerous additional perks throughout the year.
The Las Vegas band is also slated to announce additional tour dates next week.
As one of the most successful rock acts in modern music, Five Finger Death Punch has been hard at work in the studio over the past year writing and recording the follow-up to their 2020 album “F8.” Produced by Kevin Churko, the record debuted at No. 1 on rock charts around the world, with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the U.S., Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and more.
It produced four No. 1 hit singles with “Inside Out,” “A Little Bit Off,” “Living the Dream,” and “Darkness Settles In,” the latter of which saw the band tie Disturbed for the record for most consecutive No. 1s on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with seven chart-toppers in a row. 5FDP has over eight billion streams and three billion video views to date and sold over one million tickets between 2018 and 2020 alone.
They have amassed 25 Top 10 hit singles and 12 No. 1 singles. Having become one of the most recognizable names in music, 5FDP frequently plays major festivals and sells out arenas around the world.
Since their debut album, “The Way of the Fist,” came out in 2007, they have released seven consecutive albums that were certified gold or platinum by the RIAA, as well as two chart-topping greatest hits albums.
In addition, 5FDP has earned numerous national and international awards and honors over the last decade, such as the prestigious Soldier Appreciation Award by the Association of the United States Army, an honor bestowed upon only one other recording artist before them – Elvis Presley.
They are also venturing into the film space with their appearance in the upcoming horror thriller film “The Retaliators,” a Better Noise Films production that is set for a fall 2022 theatrical and streaming release. The group appears both onscreen and on the film’s original soundtrack alongside some of the biggest names in rock – Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills, From Ashes to New, The Hu, All Good Things, and more.
This past August, the movie had its world premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest in London. Its North American premiere took place at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles as the opening night film for ScreamFest, where the production took home an award for Best Makeup and earned itself rave reviews, including a rare rating of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which it still maintains today.
Megadeth has taken their place as one of metal’s most influential and respected acts, and that vitality and excitement has only grown in recent years. Having sold over 38 million albums worldwide, the band’s most recent album, 2016’s “Dystopia,” earned them their first Grammy Award (for Best Metal Performance for the title track) and charted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock and No. 3 on the Top 200 (beating or matching the highest chart numbers of the band’s career) while landing on “Top 10 Metal Albums of the Year” lists on Rolling Stone, Revolver, and many others. Megadeth is slated to release their 16th studio album, “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead,” this year.
Having recently toured North America with Lamb of God as co-headliners of the Metal Tour of the Year and joined Five Finger Death Punch on a full European tour in 2020, Megadeth is primed and ready to crush North America alongside 5FDP again this fall.
In 2019, an NPR story put a spotlight on “a band from Mongolia that blends the screaming guitars of heavy metal and traditional Mongolian guttural singing,” accurately highlighting the cultural importance and unique musical identity of The Hu. Founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, they are comprised of producer Dashka along with members Gala, Jaya, Temka, and Enkush – a modern rock group rooted in the tradition of their homeland.
The band’s name translates to the Mongolian root word for human being, and their unique approach blends instruments like the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp), and throat singing with contemporary sounds, creating a unique sonic profile that they call “hunnu rock.”
Their debut album, 2019’s “The Gereg,” debuted at No. 1 on the World Album and Top New Artist charts. With it, they have accumulated over 250 million combined streams and video views to date and have received critical acclaim from the likes of Billboard, NPR, GQ, The Guardian, The Independent, Revolver, and even Sir Elton John himself.
Proving their global appeal, The Hu has sold out venues across the world in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, with scheduled festival appearances at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Download Festival, and more, creating a community of fans from all walks of life.
They quickly grabbed the attention of the industry, leading to collaborations with Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach and Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. Most recently, the band received praise from fans and critics for their Mongolian rendition of Metallica’s “Sad But True,” which Metallica themselves acknowledged on their social media accounts, seemingly giving the band their official seal of approval. They also explored eclectic ways to reach audiences with their sound, most notably writing and recording music for EA Games’ “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.”
Readying their next chapter as a global force, The Hu is putting the finishing touches on their highly anticipated sophomore album, which is due for a global release later this year from Better Noise Music. The project will include a selection of tracks that were premiered live on the band’s critically acclaimed North American tour at the end of 2021, coinciding with their appearance on Metallica’s 2021 retrospective covers album “The Metallica Blacklist” alongside other high-profile guest artists like Miley Cyrus, Chris Stapleton, Corey Taylor, Phoebe Bridgers, J Balvin, St. Vincent, Ghost, and many more.
The Hu’s upcoming 2022 headlining tour will kick off with a special set at Coachella this month.
For some artists, making music isn’t a choice – it’s fueled by something larger than themselves. This is undoubtedly true of Fire from the Gods, whose second full-length “American Sun” sees them adopting the tagline “In Us We Trust,” meaning “we the people” are responsible for change, a unifying statement in order to try to prevent society from succumbing to the growing malaise brought on by soul-sucking technology, divisive politics, and environmental destruction.
“With this record, what we’re trying to drive home is that our differences and where we are from doesn’t need to define who we are moving forward,” frontman AJ Channer explained.
“Like [our 2016 album] ‘Narrative,’ I’m telling the story from my perspective, but it’s a story that people from all walks of life can relate to in the sense that we all face the same challenges… and the only way to conquer them is if we face them together.”
Fire from the Gods has experienced their share of ups and downs since the Austin, Texas-based act released their David Bendeth-produced (Breaking Benjamin, Paramore) debut three years ago. Since then, the band – which also features drummer Richard Wicander, guitarists Drew Walker and Jameson Teat, and bassist Bonner Baker – has toured incessantly with groups like Sevendust and Of Mice & Men; played festivals ranging from the Vans Warped Tour to the country’s largest rock festival, Rock on the Range; re-released their debut as “The Narrative Untold” featuring new songs produced by Jonathan Davis of Korn; and spread their message to fans all over the world.
However, instead of resting on their laurels, they doubled down on their message with “American Sun,” their first album after signing with juggernauts Better Noise (Eleven Seven Music Group).
“I think this record is a lot more personal because I’ve become a lot more open about who I am and what I’ve had to deal with,” Channer said.
He spent his childhood shuffling between London, New York, Los Angeles, Norfolk, and Ghana, giving him a unique perspective on the world, though the issues that he’s dealt with, such as anxiety, depression, anger, rejection, and loss, are universal.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Five Finger Death Punch performing at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain with Breaking Benjamin and Bad Wolves in 2018 here.
