Saying he's "sick and tired of safe music," Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody has compared the band's next album to tricky turns in Metallica's career. He used the admitted "horrible analogy" as a way to illustrate the group's experimental outlook for the album, which he hopes to arrive early next year.

Asked by hardDrive Radio if Five Finger Death Punch were keeping it "old school" during writing and recording sessions for the upcoming effort, the vocalist responded in the affirmative before underscoring the act's added determination to step outside the box this time around. Watch the interview down toward the bottom of this page. (The new album discussion starts about halfway through the clip.)

"It's like when Metallica cut their hair or they made the 'One' video," Moody responded. "We love metal. Those are our grassroots, you know? But at the end of the day, as artists, we really have to experiment. I'm a lover of music, so be it not me to just stamp the black-and-white thing and not take the chance to really do something creative. And I'm really happy at the fact that my guys are in the same headspace. We're at that level now where there's no need to not cut our hair and make a new video. Horrible analogy, isn't it?"

As for a probable release date, the Five Finger Death Punch frontman kept his options open. However, he indicated it's likely the act's eighth album and follow-up to And Justice for None will hit sometime next year.

"It's absolutely open-ended," he said. "I don't want any fucking endgame on it, there's no end line to it. I really want this to be ready when it's ready. I'd love to have it out by the beginning of 2020. That's my goal, personally."

After finding their new drummer online, the band started work on the record earlier this year. 5FDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory previously mentioned the new album would harken back to their "heavier side."