Zoltan Bathory

I did an Interview with Fightsport magazine in England, it’s out on the streets now… also, we are giving away some Alphadog Fight Gear in the mag! Pick it up!

We’re writing and recording our next album as we speak …    We are tracking with award winning engineer/producer- Kevin Churko ( Ozzy, In This Moment etc) and the record will be mixed by Randy Staub - who mixed at least 4 Matallica albums (the Black album amongst them) and many-many great records - so we are really excited about all this….

We have to finish it by the end of may, since on June first we are flying to Europe….  and start our second European tour ! 

The Dates Are:

Another Paintball Field visit on the road…

(Click to view)

Revolver Magazine’s Fight Issue featured metal musicians dabling in martial arts…  my good friend Herman Li (of Dragonforce) and I - both made it into “fight club”    

My Rig setup fetured in Guitar World magazine:

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This new feature in Kerrang Just hit the streets… 

Big thanx to Kerrang for this!  Especially, that in this article  we discussed the long hard road out of communist hell… and what it really took to get to this point. Sometimes I read on various boards that I ”pretend” to be Hungarian… which is pretty fuckin’ hilarious to me…   (kapd be a faszom ha nem hiszed)  

It’s not a common knowledge that I grew up behind the iron curtain (In Hungary) and there was an actual minefield and a triggerhappy border patrol between me and my dreams of playing Heavy Metal all over the world…   

(click to view)

We had been killing it in the USA for almost two years now… Finally - after near 300,000 albums sold in the USA - the record is coming out in good ol’ Europe and we’re starting our first EU tour as well…  We’ll begin in England with Lamb Of God and Dimmu Borgir - ( on the Metal Hammer’s Defenders Of The Faith festivals)  Then we play a couple of shows in Ireland with L.O.G. - and finally a 3 weeks long trek across the continent…. 

Feb 6  London, UK @ Academy Islington Get Tix!

METAL HAMMER’S Defenders of the Faith II Tour w/ Dimmu Borgir, Lamb of God, Unearth

Feb 8   Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall Get Tix!
Feb 9   Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy Get Tix!
Feb 11 Bristol, UK @ Academy Bristol Get Tix!
Feb 12 Birmingham, UK Academy Birmingham Get Tix!
Feb 13 Manchester, UK Manchester University Get Tix!
Feb 14 London, UK Brixton Academy Get Tix!
Feb 15 Glasgow, UK Academy Glasgow Get Tix!
Feb 17 Oxford, UK  Oxford Academy Get Tix!

European Headlining Dates

Feb 18Amsterdam, Holland, Amsterdam Melkweg Get Tix!
Feb 19 Koln, Germany Koln Underground Get Tix!
Feb 20 Berlin, Germany Berlin Magnet Get Tix!
Feb 22 Copenhagen, Denmark Vega Get Tix!
Feb 23 Gothenburg, Sweden  Brewhouse Get Tix!
Feb 24 Stockholm, Sweden  Klubben Get Tix!
Feb 26 Helsinki, Finland  Helsinki Nostri Get Tix!
Feb 28 Hamburg, Germany  Hamburg Logo Get Tix!
March 1 Weisbaden, Germany Weisbaden Schlacthof Get Tix!
March 2 Munich, Germany Munich 59:1 Get Tix!
March 3 Zurich, Switzerland Zurich Rohstoffloger Get Tix!

In The press:

Metal Hammer UK :

Thanks to Revolver for this feature…

Well…  the REVOLVER guys did not turn out to be  snotty balding journalists holding bachelor degrees in social sciences pretending to be down with the Metal… They were the real deal… They actually suited up and jumped in the trenches with us, crawling through dirt, taking 300 feet/sec hits in the shitstorm of all out paintball battle…   We had an awesome time, and here is the chronicle of our adventure:

It’s truly an honor… I grew up on Metal Hammer and Kerrang!  I used to have the posters from Hammer all over my wall when I was a kid…  Seeing my own band in these magz is a dream coming true… 

The Death Punch crew hits up paintball fields as much as possible - while on tour.  In fact the band is sponsored by JT-USA one of the largest paintball gear manufacturers in the world.

Check out the latest feature in Facefull magazine:

We played a dozen huge outdoor festivals all over the country… 
and somehow we alway ended up playing these with Kid Rock n’ crew…
Awsome bunch of people -  we got this bottle of Cabo Wabo from them…

I switched wireless systems a few weeks ago - and said good by to dead zones and dropouts. The X2 is a digital system from Line 6 -  it worked flawless from 20,000 seater arenas to House Of Blues size venues…   Sound quality is amazing - really happy with this one… Two thumbs up.

Check out the 6 page spread…  (click on thumbnails to zoom)

Crazy ass weekend - we had to fly around  (and through) the hurricane…   Grounded flights and (not kidding) 8-9 rescheduled - cancelled - redirected and then grounded flights - lost luggages - aborted landings  - yet we did manage to play both Festivals (another 30,000 asses  properly rocked)  but holy shit….   It wasn’t easy… 

In Oregon the intro was already rolling when the cab arrived with Ivan to the venue… he barely catched the first line of the opening song….  From there we made it to Chichago - but we got screwed there - managed to get out a few hours later but then we couldn’t land in Daytona - so we landed in Cincinatti  - rented a Van and drove the rest of the way… barely made it… and had to find where the hell our guitars landed…   then  in Ohio we got hit with the damned hurricane - the porta-potty’s were FLYING! - so was the gear right off stage…   merch tents…  everything in the air …    After us, Candlebox squeezed in their set and then the whole festival was cancelled…  it was too dangerous to continue…   We just finally checked in a hotel now  (The band is up for a straight 72 Hours) … can’t leave Ohio - all of our flights were cancelled again and I just saw fuckin’ Dorothy and Toto flying by the window….  

On the positive note…   we just got the news - we hit 200,000 records scanned …. and our 3rd video… The Way Of The Fist just premiered on MTV last night ….   The second single was #6 today, and it’s in the top ten for 8 weeks now… … I know these are just stats - but - fuck - it’s huge for a heavy metal band these days… 

Here’s the Video - (this is the edited version - on MTV) - count the number of beeps - haha - record breaking… not a ‘pretty song’ ….

With The New Diamond Nitrox amps….

 
Click thumbnail to zoom.

Another Guitar World Feature…  

There’s a little bit of a sad vibe as the end of the festival is approaching….   We went through something like this before when we were out on The Family Values tour with Korn and Hellyeah and had to part ways after 4-5 months on the road together… 

Summer festivals are very special - imagine a huge family on a surreal vacation. A travelling circus with convoys of buses and 18 wheelers filled to the rim with all kinds of “interesting characters” ….
It is *really*  a 24/7 party - and  most importantly, you never see the arena “the next day” when there’s garbage everywhere, and people already gone back to work…  You are in the next town already “bringin’ on another party”… Again… and Again and Again….  It’s like an  ”endless summer” … (well… almost)

This time we started in 08′ May with supporting Disturbed’s Indestructible Tour and then we hopped on the Mayhem fest together. We were hoping to go to Europe with them after Mayhem but scheduling conflicts got in the way…   It would have been a blast, and we will be really missing those guys - they are truly an awesome band - and an awesome group of people we became really good friends with…

Another thing I will miss is the always up to no good Dragonforce camp…   those guys are crazy… and Herman (Li) is a Gracie Ji-Jitsu guy… so we busted out the mats and trained almost every morning (well except for the hungover days)…  The Jagermeister guys lent us their inflatable Jager tent for the occasions…. dubbed as the Jager Dojo (ran by Master Jager)

If you really think about it - you get like what - 60-70 summers in your lifetime… that ain’t that many  - for sure I will remember this one…  (well… as much as I can remember… )

Check out the current issue of Guitar World / 50 Fastest Guitarists Of All Time - Issue - [Yngwie Malmsteen on the Cover] - They gave us some love on da’ sacred pages…   We are talking gear of course and the long hard road to get  the ‘Deathpunch’ to the masses…

Columbus - Ohio knows how to throw down, the pit was savage throughout the whole set… the only time it calmed down (somewhat) was during the bleeding… but I have to say WOW - it sounded pretty damned good with 20,000 backup singers…

Here’s a video:

Yesterday close to the end of the show - some weird disease took down the savageness of my guitar tone… I switched guitars thinking, that goofy energizer bunny died in my wireless pack… but after the switch -the suckage stayed and lingered through pretty much the last 2 songs… despite the valiant effort my tech (Dr. McLovin) demonstrated by switching all rocket launchers on - and turning the amps above the “Possible Death” and later above the “Certain Death” markings… (respectively 5 and 6 on the volume knob) - we were limping a little… sound wise that is. You see, it’s fairly difficult to repair a tank in a warzone while rolling full speed and laying down fire… you just gotta do what ya gotta do - so we stomped through the remaining 2 songs on 120% … (we usually do 180 so it was a cutback) .

The day after… We did the all around troubleshooting and found the culprit. A cable, that originally (and still) checked out as “good to go” on the cable tester - was actually no good… For some reason it doesn’t let through the current (lets through enough to fool the tester) - but just killed the guitar tone… here’s the video of that day’s pre-show activities… >>

1. BC Rich Assassin PX3T  with Rockfield Mafia Pickups
Signal goes through Wireless Unit >
From Wireless Unit to >
2. Boost Line Driver Pedal (MXR-Dunlop) >
3. Ibanez Tubescreamer >
4. Smart Gate (MXR-Dunlop) >
5. Dimond Nitrox Amplifiers >
6. From Nitrox Effect Loop to Digitech GSP1011
7. Nitrox amps to Nitrox Cabinets

We are heading back out on the road with Disturbed - and I just upgraded my rig - I got two of the new Diamond Nitrox Amps and 2 Nitrox Cabinets…. it’s the most savage rig I owned to date… 

I heard about Diamond from a good friend of mine  Jason Hook (Alice Cooper) - so I went to check them out at the NAMM Show (National Association of Music Merchants) back in 2006 .  I’m a gear head so I hit it off with Diamond’s president Jeff Diamant and we kept in touch for casual gear talks ever since. A few months ago he called me and said - ” dude we built a new amp, you got to check it out - your name is written all over it… it’s the most brutal amp we ever built”  - so I went to his LA showroom to testdrive it…  and hour later a called CaseWorld to start building a custom rack that fits two of these heads… LOL

www.diamondamplifications.com

Here’s the story….

After I recruited a musical SWAT team (a.k.a. the band) in 06 and produced/recorded an album (The Way Of The Fist) in 07 - we did what bands were supposed to do: played some shows… except we started out with good ones… 1st Show @ Wiltern Theater Los Angeles - opening for Dragonforce - then a couple of House Of Blues shows with Twisted Sister… In the meantime our myspace profile went through the roof, and some word of mouth phenomena started to happen. We Hit numero Uno on the metal charts and averaged some 5000 downloads a day… some crazy DJs (starting with Pablo at 93x) (more followed) put our unsigned asses on the air and started to spin the record… -{thanks guys!}

All kind of labels noticed that we are carpetbombing the underground, but “Full Metal Jackie” Kajzer - a Radio DJ and one of the managers at The Firm wasted no time - pulled out a machette - cut through the Jungle and before we knew - we were showcasing front of The Firm.

07′ May - The band gets signed to the ultra heavy weight “Firm” management (Korn, Staind, Limp Bizkit) - and the label ” Firm Music/EMI ” .  The Label loves the already finished record and cues it up for release without modifications - as is.

07′ July - Band gets on the road to Headline the Guitar Hero stage on Korn’s Family Values tour.

07′ July 31st (while still on the road) The record drops…  and immediately enters the Billboard 200 !

The reviews are great too:

DecibelMagazine
“This just might be the tonic you need to restore your faith in, well, metal - The Way of the Fist aims squarely for the thrash-groove nirvana that many a band has chased ever since Cowboys From Hell, and actually hits the bullseye”

Metal Edge Magazine
“An album with the potential to give metal a belligerent shove in a fresh, different direction.”

BillboardMagazine
“By the time the modern thrash band finishes the Family Values tour, this should be the concert anthem of 2007″ 

 Blistering Magazine
“This is easily the most impressive debut album of 2007 and is a likely contender for album of the year.”

The single “The Bleeding” -  (most deemed “nooo fucking way gonna get on radio” - ever) - crash lands into the top 40 and begins punching and elbowing its way toward the top 20.

07′ August - The band leaves a serious (black and blue) impression on Family Values Tour… the fans (knuckleheads) are out of control. Some venues run out of stretchers. The PITs are nothing sort of insane.

07′ September - After FVT - KORN invites the band to support their “B*#ch we have a problem” tour. While the single is already in the top 20.

Good times. Opening for Korn in arenas, while Record & the single defies all odds. Crashing toward the top.

07′ November - Band heads out on its own Headlining tour. Single gets all the way up to #7 and the record scans 100,000 sold copies…   and going.

07′ December…  a short break - gearing up for 08′  - big tours on the Horizon…
good news the video for “The bleeding” was in the Top 5 best metal videos of MTV2 

Here’s the video recap:

{ pushing on in 2008 }

In early 2008 we were back on the road as the main support for Disturbed’s Indestructible tour…   This was a truly awesome trek and a close bond formed between the two bands…   By the end of the tour - our record sales were closing up on 200,000… Our seconds single was moving up on the charts, and Rock Radio begun to believe that there is a place for heavier bands on mainstream radio…

After the Indestructible tour - both Disturbed & Five Finger Death Punch transited straight onto the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival… the biggest metal festival/tour of 2008. We spent the summer ’laying bricks’ on the second stage front of crowds of 8-12,000 daily - The moshpits were so savage they wiped the smirk off the nonbeliever’s faces…   By the end of the tour we quadrupled our fan base and our second single set up camp in rock radio’s top 10… 

We were in a strange position because in the beginnings the underground magazines ignored us -  we were just a new band and simply not important - but now after selling over 200,000 records in a relatively short period of time - there was a new reason - we became a “mainstream band” by their standards…  while mainstream press still though we are way to heavy for them…    So here we were between the two, and after two top 10 singles, 6 USA tours and fans in the millions - we still had no press coverage. … We owed everything to our fiercly loyal fans (The Knuckleheads)  and the program directors who had the balls to put us on their stations… 

Our label and our booking agency (The Firm and the Agency Group) however had the insight to understand… “every band is as big as their fan base” and seeing the support we were getting from the “Knuckleheads” - they went ahead and booked a headlining tour in the fall of 2008. They were right…  The tour was a huge success, selling out almost every single date …propelling the band to a new level, while the 3rd single was closing up on the top 10 and record sales were hitting almost 300K.  The media could no longer deny - the Death Punch was here to stay….  

It was time to leave the “cradle”  - and set our sights on the rest of the world…

In January 2009… Spinefarm/Universal released (an extended version of) “The Way Of The Fist” in Europe… For me especially, it was a huge milestone… it was a home coming…  I grew up in Europe, behind the Iron Curtain…  there was literary a minefield between me and international success…  after breaking out of there a decade ago and digging in the trenches….    it was very exciting to see if my European brothers accept the band I built here in the USA…. Probably these are the happiest days of my life seeing the magazines I grew up on … the mighty METAL HAMMER and KERRANG extended their hands - and embraced Five Finger Death Punch…