Death Punch's first album was very promising, with some seriously good riffage and anger being expressed in a effective way without losing any sign of melody, and the follow up to 'Way of the Fist' does not let down the momentum. If anything, Death Punch capitalize on everything that worked and have produced a great new work, War is the Answer.
The album starts off with undoubtedly my favourite track, Dying Breed. Not only does the guitarist (with his awesome name Zoltan) show off his mastery of the axe with the fast paced, thrashy riffs, but pulls off some seriously good solos, and Dying Breed couldn't show this better. The solo is one of my favourite of all time and it won't fail to bring out the air guitarist in you. What's more impressive is that he keeps pulling off technical and melodic solos in just about every song, even the tracks that focus more on the thrashy-ness and less on the melody. The vocals are still up to scratch, keeping their cleans on choruses, and without it the signature sound would probably be gone. The vocalist generally shows some singing talent, he can hit notes well and has a lot of clarity, even after a long verse of thrash scream/shouting. As well as the emotional feel which hits in most choruses, there are a few acoustic elements, in songs such as Far From Home and Crossing Over. This is a style the band can pull off well, mainly due to the vocalist's flexibility. The album continues in a balanced way, exploring speed and the 'mindless' touch necessary for thrash but also tunefulness just at the right times, before finishing with the undeniably kickass duo of Bad Company and the title track War is the Answer
It is worth noting that this album is groove metal, it's not a massive change from the first album's thrash so die-hard fans of the first album don't worry, in fact I think it works with their 'badass' nature which they can do well. Some of their songs, such as 'Bulletproof' are incredibly moshable with a beat-the-crap-out-of-you attitude, and only make the contrast with the softer or acoustic tracks better.
Overall, Five Finger Death Punch have effortlessly improved upon their last album, and haven't let down their fanbase. They know what they do well, and they know how it can always be improved. This is one of the best things I have heard released in 2009 and would recommend to most metal listeners, and even some hard rock fans.
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