Ivan Moody Addresses Reports He's Quitting Five Finger Death Punch

Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody has released a lengthy statement addressing reports that he is planning to leave the band to focus on a new supergroup project.

Moody announced a new supergroup called Villain (featuring Meegs from Coal Chamber and Gemini Syndrome's Brian Steele Medina) during a radio interview last week and said during the chat "To be completely honest with you, Death Punch and I have kind of come to a crossroads, and we're very proud of what we've done, I mean, years and years and years and years of work. But it's time for us to kind of take our way and go do something else."

Some outlets mistook those comments to imply that Moody was leaving Five Finger Death Punch but he took to the band's official website last Friday (April 21) to shoot down those reports. He wrote, ""It's no secret that this has been a tough year for me and for my bandmates in Five Finger Death Punch. When you put everything you have into making music, both on and off the stage, it can be very frustrating when the music you work so hard to create is not allowed to see the light of day. I know we share this frustration with our fans too, who have come to expect new music from us - fans who mean everything to us. It is true that Five Finger Death Punch has come to a crossroads - and that crossroads is we're all at a place where we will never again let someone or something hold us back from making music for our fans.

"The lawsuit by Prospect Park holding our new album hostage has taken a toll on me. I was in a rehabilitation facility when Prospect Park decided to sue the band last year, and that was very difficult for me to handle all at once.

"Yesterday I made a statement that was taken out of context by the media - a media always looking to create headlines that will make people click them. The truth is, I want to start a side-project like Corey Taylor has with Stone Sour or Maynard has with A Perfect Circle and I want to do it when Five Finger Death Punch's deal with Prospect Park is over and we are out of this lawsuit.

"THIS DOES NOT MEAN I PLAN ON LEAVING FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH! The great thing about being a musician today is that you can explore your creativity in multiple ways without compromising your primary focus. I learned this watching people like Corey and Maynard and I think their fans are glad they've put more music out into the world. I hope my fans are, too.

"All that said, Five Finger Death Punch fans can expect our next album via Prospect Park and we are geared up to tour all throughout 2017. We are about to leave for South America and Europe and we have other dates TBD.

"All of us in the band have worked incredibly hard over the last 10 years to build this band and none of us are going to let that go just because our record company is trying to sabotage us. I am sorry if the media took my statement as a resignation, but I assure you it wasn't"

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