Five Finger Death Punch Was Afraid to Use Pyro When Ivan Moody Was Drunk

Five Finger Death Punch members Ivan Moody and Zoltan Bathory have opened up to Metal Hammer about Moody’s struggle with alcoholism. For Moody’s part, when discussing his latest rehab visit, he’s saying all the right things:

“I learned a lot about myself. Things that I had forgotten. I learned what it was like to not battle myself anymore, which is really difficult to admit, because at the end of the day–and I’m sure anyone can agree with this–you’re your own worst enemy.

“I just got to a point where I was lying to myself constantly, so I had to face up to that. It was a lot of, I don’t want to use the words ‘self sacrifice’, but that’s what it felt like. It was giving up who I thought I was and starting over from scratch and realizing the man that I am was good enough.”

Bathory, meanwhile, reveals that the band was afraid to utilize pyro before Moody became sober, because there was a chance that he might drunkenly end up pulling a Hetfield:

“Ivan was a functioning alcoholic – this guy could probably fly the space shuttle drunk and you wouldn’t even know.

“You wouldn’t notice that he was drunk until he’d say something really bizarre, and then you were like, ‘Oh shit, you’re drunk!’

“Now we go out and the machine is absolutely precise, to the minute. He’s actually where he’s supposed to be, meaning that if we wanted to use pyro, now we can. Before, you couldn’t tell him, ‘Don’t stand there,’ because he will.”

As much as I loathe music of Five Finger Death Punch, I’m relieved that Moody never set himself aflame. Anything we can do to limit potential burn victims to the audience at a Chilean Anthrax show, I’m all in favor of.

[via The PRP]