Five Finger Death Punch’s Zoltan Bathory on touring with Metallica: “This is the apex, this is the climax”

The dates are near for the two Metallica concerts in Helsinki. The world-famous U.S. band, active since 1981, will bring together people from all generations, from all over Finland and not only, on the 7^th and 9^th of June at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. The bands Architects and Mammoth will support Metallica on the 7^th of June and two days later it’s time for Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills.

Even though Five Finger Death Punch, being a band so big, with 6.9M monthly listeners on Spotify, selling out arenas in the U.S. and headlining some of the most important festivals in the world, they only ever crossed paths once with Metallica in July 2022, before this tour. Five Finger Death Punch had toured for over 15 years before that.

In a video published on the YouTube channel of Five Finger Death Punch, the musicians shared some thoughts on how it feels to play with such a big band.

“Everyone sets goals, as you should. But you have to understand, for us, this is the apex, this is the climax, this is the top of the fucking hill. […] They paved the road for everyone of us and anyone that argues that fact, is out of their fucking mind.” Ivan Moody (singer of FFDP)

“This feels right. It’s surreal, but it also feels right.” Zoltán Báthory (guitarist of FFDP)

“Yes, it is a big deal. Are you kidding me?”

Zoltán Báthory (guitarist of FFDP)

After this encounter, the band got a phone call in summer of 2022 if they would like to support Metallica in their next tour. It took two years until this moment was reached. Zoltán Báthory, guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch, told the German radio station Rock Antenne in an interview, that touring with Metallica meant planning out their schedule far ahead.

“So the moment we were announcing what’s happening with Metallica, we knew our schedule for two years ahead. ‘Cause you’re moving an entire city around the world, like trucks and hundreds of people… I mean, it’s a big production moving around the world… so the logistics… And nothing can fail… nothing can fail. One mistake can end the show. So these things have to be planned out, and that takes time.” Zoltán Báthory (guitarist of FFDP)

After Five Finger Death Punch vocalist Ivan Moody had to undergo hernia surgery in the spring of 2023, the first dates of the M72 World Tour supporting Metallica were cancelled for them. The band got back and then finally played supporting Metallica on August 6^th in New Jersey.

In an interview with Audacy Check In, guitarist Zoltán Báthory revealed how it feels like playing to such a massive audience on the M72 World Tour with Metallica.

“And so it’s such a big band that even if you’re not necessarily into metal, you’ve gotta come; you have to come and see. And so that means there are gonna be a lot of people in that arena that, hearing a band named Five Finger Death Punch, they’re probably not gonna us a chance because they have no idea what that would be. So that means that we are playing to a substantial amount of people who never heard of [us] before. And I can tell that we’re turning them, I can tell, especially after the show. You can definitely see it, because we have, obviously, statistics and online we can measure that. After every show, there’s a jump in visitors and a jump in downloads and a jump in statistics, so I know that we’re hitting a massive amount of people with that.” Zoltán Báthory (guitarist of FFDP)

The next tour dates of the M72 World Tour:

7 June 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
9 June 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium
14 June 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
16 June 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium
5 July 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
7 July 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy
12 July 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
14 July 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano
2 August 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
4 August 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium
9 August 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
11 August 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
16 August 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium
18 August 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium
23 August 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
25 August 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium
30 August 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field
1 September 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field
20 September 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
22 September 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
27 September 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol
29 September 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol