I’ve been a fan of Five Finger Death Punch ever since I interviewed them at Download in 2009. If you are wondering what they sound like, the clue is indeed in the title, although as a mate recently came out with ‘possibly not as heavy as you think they’d be’ . This is presumably testament to the melodic vocals employed by the group, however there’s no denying the sheer force of some of the riffs on the new album The Wrong Side Of Heaven and The Righteous Sound Of Hell Volume 1.

The album features an amazing cover of LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out. I’m not generally one for ‘novelty’ covers by rock bands but this really works, the lyrics sounding considerably more menacing, and, ahem, more likely to knock you out than Mr Cool J. It’s actually quite surprising that nobody thought to do it before! Across the album there’s also cameos from Soulfly’s Max Cavalera, Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta, and this banger featuring Judas Priest’s Rob Halford.

Talking of Hatebreed, I’m excited about their upcoming tour which kicks off next week. Here in the South, they were originally set to be playing this year’s Hevy Fest in Folkestone which was then moved to Brixton Academy on account of problems with the site, and then ultimately cancelled. Luckily though, they’ve joined forces with headliners Killswitch Engage for a one-off date at London’s tiny Garage in Islington. It’s already sold out, but if you are lucky enough to have tickets, I’d get there early as they’re both playing headline length sets!