A couple weeks ago, Ivan Moody abruptly announced during a show in his hometown of Denver that he's planning to retire from metal after Five Finger Death Punch's next album. Moody has been fronting FFDP since the band's first record in 2007, and previously sang in Ozzfest veterans Motograter, so the news that he was getting ready to hang up his hat in order to spend more time with his kids came as a big shock.
"The last 15 years of my life I have toured the world, I have seen every country, every city on this planet at least twice — That's a fact," Moody told the crowd on October 14th, while joined onstage by two of his children. "And through that time as many of you parents know — hard workers — I have missed a lot of time with my kiddos.
"So I made them a deal today, and I'm going to stick to it. After this year, I am going to make one more Five Finger Death Punch album and then I am retiring from heavy metal."
Now, that deal has apparently already been broken.
In a two-and-a-half-hour-long video that was uploaded to YouTube, Moody revealed that after considering his newfound commitment to giving up the metal life, he's decided that he actually won't retire anytime soon, chalking up his address from the stage as "impulsive" and telling fans that his "soul would fucking definitely fade" if he followed through with leaving FFDP after their next record.
"I really sat back the last few days and took it all in," Moody said in the video, as transcribed by Loudwire. "And I first off want to apologize. I do. I apologize. I apologize because music's all I've got, and I don't think, for one, my kids would respect me in the long run if I quit doing what got me here. I don't think my friends would talk to me. Obviously they didn't text me, not the ones I was hoping for."
"My bandmates deserve better. Zoltan [Bathory, Five Finger Death Punch guitarist] deserves my heart and has earned my respect time and time again. He may as well be my blood. You deserve the best, there is no question about that."
"I can't quit," he continued. "I can't. I'm not. To be quite honest with you, I think I'd die. Maybe not physically die, my but soul would fucking definitely fade, and I didn't come here for that. There is a fucking fire inside of me that will never go out.
"Music and heavy metal are all I've ever had, all I've ever known. I was designed by it. When all the rest of the world kept betting against me — underdog, day after day after day — I found solace and sanctuary in bands like Metallica and Pantera, Alice in Chains, Danzig. The list goes on and on."
"I ain't going anywhere. I'm not... Maybe I was a little bit impulsive... I hope you all will forgive me."
See Moody's full video statement below via YouTube.
