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Tag: Five Finger Death Punch

  • Ivan Moody Reflects On Addiction Through His Tattoos

    Ivan Moody Reflects On Addiction Through His Tattoos

    The Five Finger Death Punch singer got candid about the connections between his tattoos and his journey to sobriety.  

    Ivan Moody, the lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch, has had a very tough road out of addiction, and recently he spoke to the metal site Loudwire for a show called “The Needle and The Damage Done.”

    It’s a show about tattoos, but the title, in reference to a Neil Young song about heroin, is also fitting considering his dark past.

    In showing his tattoos, Moody has a phoenix drawn onto his head which represents his one-year sobriety milestone.

    “I wanted to not only wake up everyday and remind myself of how far I’ve come, but how far I have to go,” he says. “I wanted to make sure that everybody knew that I wasn’t going anywhere. This is not only a symbol of my strength, but also, hopefully, a symbol that other people can look at, and know they’re not alone.”

    Declared Legally Dead For 2 Minutes

    Moody also has a snake tattoo, symbolizing shedding skin after coming out of a medically induced coma, During his coma, Moody was declared legally dead for two minutes, and when he woke up, he needed help walking to the mirror. He took a hard glance and didn’t recognize the person staring back at him.

    “It was like [Lord of the Rings character] Gollum. I was green and ugly and pale and like, ‘What the fuck happened to me?’ And that’s when I decided I was going to shed skin and be the man that I’ve always been and I can be.”

    Moody adds, “The biggest part for me, especially in sobriety, yes it’s the band, yes it was for my kids, yes it’s for my family, but at the beginning of the day, it starts with me.”

    Under his eye, Moody has the spears of destiny symbol, which is out of the Bible, and he also turned a teardrop tattoo into a flame, “as a sign of the future. I wanted to do everything I could to not forget who I am, but move past it.”

    This past March, Moody hit his one-year sober milestone, and as he said in an Instagram video, “I’m speechless man. A lot of people didn’t think I’d make it 24 hours. To be honest with you, there were times I didn’t either.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Is One Year Sober

    Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Is One Year Sober

    “I’m speechless man. A lot of people didn’t think I’d make it 24 hours. To be honest with you there were times I didn’t either,” Moody said.

    Ivan Moody, the lead singer in the rock band Five Finger Death Punch, celebrated one year of sobriety over the weekend, according to his bandmate. 

    “I’m speechless man,” Moody said in an emotional Instagram video. “A lot of people didn’t think I’d make it 24 hours. To be honest with you there were times I didn’t either.” 

    He took time to acknowledge the people who are fighting to stay sober. 

    “I’m with you every step of the way, whether you have 24 hours or 24 years,” he said. “Keep the fight man.” 

    Chris Kael, the group’s bassist, recently achieved his own year of sobriety, and he took to Instagram to help acknowledge Moody’s accomplishment. 

    “Join me in celebrating @ivanmoody today on his One Year Sober Birthday! Roughly 75 percent of those who start the path to sobriety don’t make it a full year,” he wrote. “I’ve seen firsthand the work that Ivan has done through 365 consecutive days to get himself to this HUGE milestone. I’ve seen the amazing, positive changes in him over this past year that have gotten closer and closer to the man we all knew he could be. I’m proud of you, my friend. As are countless people you have inspired along the way. Keep that shit up! #ShitYesSon #SoberAsFuck #PresentAsFuck #IvanAsFuck”

    Moody had tried to get sober before, but always found himself relapsing, according to Blabbermouth. 

    “Recovery, you have to be committed; it’s an honest program, and I wasn’t being honest with myself at the time. I’m very, very proud of the progress I’ve made,” Moody said on a radio appearance last September. 

    Moody said that he could count on fellow sober rockers when he needed fellowship. 

    “Rob Halford [of Judas Priest] is the person that I called a lot of the time when I was in recovery,” he said. “I think he’s been sober now for going on 40 years — maybe, I think, a little longer than that; I could be wrong. But Jamey Jasta [of Hatebreed] — another one. Jamey’s been sober now for 18 years; Jonathan Davis [of Korn]; so on and so forth. So these were all people that I looked to when I was struggling, and I was very, very lucky and blessed to have them on my team.”

    Moody nearly died from alcohol at one point, and he said that since he’s been sober it’s like he’s living a new life. 

    He said, “I feel I took a nap for about four years and I woke up one day and I saw somebody else wearing my skin. It was like Rip Van Winkle; it was really odd. I feel better than I felt in years, which is really… it’s a plus.”

    In addition to Moody and Kael, Five Finger Death Punch’s former drummer Jeremy Spencer is also sober. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Five Finger Death Punch Bassist Celebrates Sober Milestone

    Five Finger Death Punch Bassist Celebrates Sober Milestone

    Before getting sober, bassist Chris Kael used about an eightball of cocaine a week to help manage untreated mental health issues.

    Chris Kael, who plays bass in the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch, has been sober for a year and took to Twitter to celebrate his milestone. 

    “May my hitting my first sober birthday yesterday give hope to those of you also struggling with addiction. It can be done. And, you will thank yourself when you too hit these milestones. Keep your chin up and those feet moving! #ShitYesSon #SoberAsFuck #SFG” Kael wrote on February 4, according to Blabbermouth. 

    Kael had previously said that he used about an eight-ball of cocaine each week to help manage his untreated mental health conditions. 

    “That got to be the biggest problem for me,” he said. “That and depression, the two things, were not good. I didn’t realize it until I got into rehab that I was self-medicating with cocaine to get my dopamine levels up to fight the depression. I never even thought about that. And then when you come off it, you crash hard.”

    Kael said that it was difficult to watch the band’s lead vocalist Ivan Moody struggle publicly with addiction, while Kael kept his substance use more private. 

    “Ivan was going through his thing, and me, no one really knew, I was the quiet one that was kind of doing things on the side. That was one of the things that was eating away at me too—my guy had a huge problem, and here I am, a quiet problem.”

    Although Moody missed some tours for treatment, Kael usually was at his worst when the touring ended, he said. 

    “It hit me hard when I got off the road. Going home was always hard anyway, ’cause you’ve got so much stimulation out on the road, and then you come home and you’re, like, ‘Wait a minute? I’ve gotta take out the trash? That’s the biggest part of my job now?’”

    Kael said on Twitter his wife helped him get into treatment and kickstart his sobriety.

    “Had she not busted me trying to restock after burning through $1300 in blow in two days in late January [2018], I truly believe that I would not be here today,” he said. “She has silently and bravely dealt with far more than what would have crushed any other woman. Her loyalty, patience, TRUE love and resolve are unmatched by any other woman I’ve ever known.”

    Although admitting he was powerless was difficult, Kael is glad that he did it. 

    “Throwing my hands to the universe and admitting I was at a fucking low and no longer able to do it myself was one of the most humbling and powerful things I’ve ever done in my life.”

    View the original article at thefix.com