Five Finger Death Punch Name New Bassist

Five Finger Death Punch has named Chris Kael as the band's new bassist after original bassist Matt Snell was fired late last year.

Talking about his new gig, Kael said, "Never give up on your dreams — I'm living proof that with hard work and a little bit of luck, they can come true." Hailing from Kentucky, Kael moved to 5FDP's home base of Las Vegas to pursue playing music full-time.

Guitarist Zoltan Bathory told Harddrive Radio in a recent interview that Snell was fired as far back as December and stressed that Matt "wasn't a writing member" so his absence from the new album recording sessions would not affect the band's sound in any way.

Five Finger Death Punch is putting the finishing touches on their third album, which is expected to include 14 songs. The band tentatively plans to release the disc in the first week of September.

The band will be apart of a few shows in the Northwest this August:

Friday, August 26th - Rock Hard In The Park - Post Falls, ID
Saturday, August 27th - Pain in The Grass 2011 - Auburn, WA
Sunday, August 28th - PDX Rockfest - Hillsboro, OR