When Five Finger Death Punch, also known as 5FDP, formed in Los Angeles in 2005 they were simply a group of metal musicians looking for a name and an outlet for their collective talent. Former U.P.O guitarist Zoltan Mathory sought out the myriad of metal heads that is now 5FDP- former Motograter vocalist Ivan Moody, former W.A.S.P members guitarist Darrell Roberts and drummer Jeremy Spencer, as well as former Anubis Rising and Deadsett bassist Matt Snell.

The band gets its unique name from the second volume of Quentin Tarantino's revenge flick Kill Bill. In typical Tarantino hallmark violence, The Bride character in the film uses the five-point-palm exploding heart technique to kill her mentor. The members of 5FDP thought the name adequately embodied their brand of thrash music and the rest is history. 5FDP enlisted Stevo "Shotgun" Bruno of Motley Crue and Prong and Mike Sarkisyan of Spineshank to record their first album and the mixing was completed by ex-Machine Head and Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader. The band signed with Firm Music, a branch of The Firm, the label famous for managing Korn, Limp Bizkit and Staind. 5FDP's debut album, Way of the Fist, was released on July 21, 2007 and peaked at number nine on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Since the release of Way of the Fist, 5FDP has taken on an ambitious touring schedule. The band co-headlined the Guitar Hero 2 second stage at the Family Values Tour of 2007. The tour was co-headlined by Korn and Evanescence and also featured Neurosonic, Trivium and Droid. 5FDP joined forces with Korn a second time in 2007 for the Bitch We Have a Problem Tour, commemorating Korn's eighth studio album. 5FDP performed during the North American leg of the tour along with Hellyeah, Droid and Flyleaf.