Las Vegas’ Five Finger Death Punch among acts playing 48 Hours Festival

He makes a living making noise, so he came here for that which it's his business to eradicate: peace and quiet.

"Right outside my driveway is just mountains and desert," says Jason Hook, guitarist for Five Finger Death Punch, a no-nonsense metal quintet whose tunes attempt to approximate the bone-abrading sensation of their namesake. "I don't hear anybody. I don't have to deal with traffic and smog. It's so pretty right there."

Though Five Finger Death Punch was formed in L.A. in 2005, since then, they've relocated here and consider themselves a Vegas band.

With two gold albums under their belts and a new disc, "American Capitalist," released this week that's sure to debut high atop the Billboard album chart, Five Finger Death Punch is the biggest band in town aside from The Killers.

To wit, today, they're one of the top-billed acts playing the 48 Hours Festival, a two-day marathon of some of the top draws in hard rock and metal featuring such heavy hitters as Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Godsmack and many others, including fellow Vegas acts Adelita's Way, Escape the Fate and Taking Dawn.

Despite all this, the band seldom gets recognized locally as one of the town's most commercially successful bands.

"People always assume, 'Oh, you must be from L.A.' 'No, no, we all live in Vegas,' " Hook says. "We really do call this our home.

"I got so sick of Los Angeles, just about everything from the air to the traffic to the earthquakes," he adds. "Everybody has white teeth and perfect tans, and everyone's got their head shot. I don't really miss anything."

This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as Five Finger Death Punch's equally melodic and mean-eyed stomp and swagger is less suggestive of starlets and palm trees than bloody noses and raw knuckles.

This is unabashed tough-guy music, the kind of flexed-biceps jams to which a pro wrestler might strut into the ring before attempting to cave in heads with a folding chair.

To these dudes, subtlety must seem like equivocation, like a weakness: If you've got something to say, don't just say it, shout it, and back it up with the foundation-quaking rumble of an exploding munitions plant.

You could call it uncouth, and yet, you get the distinct impression that this bunch could hardly care less.

Instead, they channel metal's most primal impulse, its original instinct: a stubborn, unflinching defiance.

So, no, they're not the most politically correct band and, in fact, they seem to like not being liked by everyone.

Their latest disc embraces a kill-or-be-killed, win-at-all-costs mentality.

The record before that: 2009's "War is the Answer."

Which begs the obvious question, the answer to what?

Well, pretty much everything.

Still, when the band's not on the road, which, for them, is like heading out to the front lines of the wars of which they sing, these guys seems pretty laid back.

When talk turns to the nightlife of his adopted hometown, Hook says that he prefers to stay home and chill with his cats and his pool.

"I have no desire for nightlife, because I just went through it for months and months and months," he says of getting a break from touring.

Hook's a grizzled rock 'n' roll veteran, having toured and done session work with acts as wide-ranging as the Bulletboys, Alice Cooper and Mandy Moore.

Joining Five Finger Death Punch marked a culmination in the 40-year-old's career.

The band's tunes register as the soundtrack to some epic struggle -- and in a way it is, one that most every musician shares.

"Let's face it, to have your own band and have people give a crap about it is very difficult," Hook says. "That's kind of the ultimate destination for any musician: I want to be able to write my songs, record them and sell a lot of records. That's the ultimate goal. I feel very lucky that I've landed in that position."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.