By Greg Pratt

Last year, when we last checked in with Jason Hook, who plays the six-stringer for modern metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, the band was, in Hook’s own words, “disconnected” from the success of their latest record, War Is The Answer. But cut to today and the damn record is still selling well and the singles won’t stop coming, all of which is rather insane in a time when fewer and fewer people are buying music, caring about singles and, really, giving a damn about groove-laden near-nu metal. But these guys are, obviously, doing something right.

“Yes, I remember that,” says Hook of his previous comments. “I can feel it more now. We had a truly amazing year. We won a bunch of awards for ‘best this’ and ‘best that’. War Is The Answer produced six top-ten singles; two of them went top five. We travelled our asses off and got to play in front of a shitload of cool people.”

Good lord, stop everything: six singles? What is this, the Black Album? Use Your Illusion? Six singles? Considering the guys are now recording their next record, why don’t they stop releasing singles?

“You know, the truth is a couple of those songs were not released as singles,” says Hook. “The radio stations put them into rotation on their own. I was watching the charts to track ‘Walk Away’, and I would see ‘Bad Company’ creeping up fast, before we even released it. Then I'd check back two weeks later and saw ‘No One Gets Left Behind’ at number 13! I was calling everyone, freaking out, saying, ‘Do you guys realize we have three songs on the charts right now?’ Hard work does pay off… don't let anyone tell you otherwise.”

And for this band, that hard work is taking the shape of full-length album number three, which, as previously mentioned, the band is currently holed up recording (in Las Vegas, where four of the five dudes in the band, including Hook, live).

“We never stop,” says Hook. “We could tour this album for another year, but I think people are anxious to consume. We live in a world of constant consumption. Media is so readily available with the internet, etc., that I think you have to stay fresh with new content all the time.”

Which is why, after tons of touring and (have I mentioned this?) six goddamn singles, the band is letting the hugely successful War Is The Answer take a rest as they move ahead. But we made Hook take one last look back at the little album that could.

“We’re very proud of it,” he says. “We’re very picky guys when it comes to quality control. We set our benchmark very high. I personally don’t settle when I record, because I know if I leave something on a recording that I don't like, I’ll regret it every time I hear it. It’s more work that way, but records are forever, so it's vital.”