Former Five Finger Death Punch Guitarist Sought “Mentally Stable” Musicians for New Band

After former Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Jason Hook left the band, he started a new one called Flat Black. He recently gave a radio interview where he discussed the new band and his requirements for membership. It starts off pretty innocuous…

“Well, I was pretty hell-bent on starting a new band. Music’s in my blood. It’s a part of my DNA, and I just knew that… I didn’t really care how long it took. It just had to be potent. And so, one [musician] at a time… I found Rob first, and he’s awesome. And then, of course, Nick; he’s from Los Angeles. All my guys are just stellar players. And I wanted to have a good pack of songs. And so here we are.”

…and then it seems like Hook might be taking some shots at his former Five Finger Death Punch bandmates.

“Well, it was a bit of a prerequisite to find guys that were mentally stable and free of drama and that we could hang. It’s all about the hang. When you’re on tour, you’re stuck in this submarine, this rolling submarine, for 18 months. It’s important that everyone is compatible. The personalities, I wanted to be very specific about that this time around… We’re getting along great.”

Five Finger Death Punch released one of the stupidest possible music videos—a steaming pile of anti-mask propaganda at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that was, you know, killing people—shortly after Hook left the band, so he had the right idea to jump ship anyway. Other guitarist Zoltan Bathory later denied that it was an anti-mask video, which is the funniest thing I’ve heard since someone told me that they enjoy the latest Five Finger Death Punch release. Obviously anti-mask beliefs are not inherently correlated with the condition of one’s mental health, it was just convenient timing for the guitarist.