Check out Five Finger Death Punch's new arena-worthy rock ballad, Times Like These

Five Finger Death Punch have dropped Times Like These, the fourth single from their upcoming ninth studio album, AfterLife.

Following the previously released AfterLife, IOU and Welcome to the Circus, the new track takes a markedly softer approach, with guitarists Zoltan Bathory and Andy James serving down-tempo electric guitar arpeggios and soothing acoustic guitar strums in a largely ballad-style arrangement.

Keen to continue making his mark in the veteran Las Vegas rock outfit, Andy James – who joined the band in October 2020 – injects the song with a melodic solo from the 2:03 mark, crafted with tastefully played and beautifully vocal bends. You can listen to the track out below.

Zoltan Bathory says AfterLife – the group’s first full-length record with James – was “hands down my favorite record to make”.

“It is our ninth album so at this point, we have legions of loyal fans and our signature sound is more than established,” the guitarist says. “It became its own island, our ground zero we operate from and we can always come back to.”

He adds that despite leaning on their bedrock signature sound, an “anything goes” approach to the songwriting on AfterLife has yielded a record that’s “way more diverse” than the band’s previous outings.

“When we started this record, there was an excitement of impending musical adventures, we knew we could step away as far as we wanted to,” Bathory continues.

“It was not planned as a concept album, but we were so hyper-focused on painting a complete picture, it somehow feels like one… We are very proud of it and are just as impatient as the fans waiting for the release. We can’t wait to share it.”

• FFDP's Zoltan Bathory and new recruit Andy James on new beginnings and shred in the era of Covid

Bathory also explained in a recent interview with Metal Hammer that certain parts of the album have a “‘60s/’70s vibe”.

“We’d be working on a song and something comes out, and we’d go, ‘That almost sounds ‘70s – this late-‘60s/early-’70s vibe,” he said. “There are other things that are super-modern and almost futuristic. When you put these songs next to each other, they tell a story. It sounds like a coherent band.”

He continued: “When you listen to music from the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was a specific vibe. If you look at the world now, and what happened in the last couple of years, there has been a paradigm shift. Compare the ‘50s with the ‘60s – they were very, very different.

“There was a psychedelic revolution: an explosion over what the world is and what’s important. That’s happening now and this record, sonically, fits perfectly. We also have the metaverse and cryptocurrencies – what do they mean? People look at what freedom means very differently, so how do you put a soundtrack to that?”

AfterLife is set to arrive August 19 via Better Noise Music. Check out its track list and artwork below.

1. Welcome To The Circus 
2. AfterLife
3. Times Like These
4. Roll Dem Bones 
5. Pick Up Behind You
6. Judgment Day
7. IOU 
8. Thanks For Asking 
9. Blood And Tar 
10. All I Know
11. Gold Gutter 
12. The End