Five Finger Death Punch’s 2009 release, “War is the Answer”, makes a brutal statement on three items: the United State’s political climate, sociocultural trends, and lastly the narrator’s personal struggle against his own internal demons.

The self-titled track of “War is the Answer” embodies each of the three aforementioned thematic elements of the album. Written entirely in the span of four minutes (source: Black Compendium Magazine, Moody 2009), writer Kevin Churko and longtime collaborator Ivan L. Moody met for lunch at Churko’s estate.

“We hadn’t spoken a word [to each other] the entire meeting,” Churko said, “there was an overwhelming sentiment of bitterness and hatred brewing within the two of us- all we could do was write.” (Black Compendium Magazine, Churko 2009)

The song first debuted in The Roasted Bean, a coffee shop in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. After a short introduction by the venue’s organizer, Abdel Nour, Five Finger Death Punch would open with “War is the Answer” to an audience of 25 unsuspecting patrons.

“I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes,” said Saifur Rahman, a regular of The Roasted Bean, “these American dogs irreverently violated the sanctity of a peaceful coffee-going experience and without regard for anyone other than themselves- and yet I can’t help but admit [that the] foreign sounds they produced awakened something primordial within myself that I had not known to ever exist. Five Finger Death Punch is something special.” (Indulgence Weekly Issue 452, Rahman 2010)