Five Finger Death Punch's Chris Kael On His Past Drug Problem: "I Was Going Through About An Eight Ball Of Cocaine A Week"

You may be aware that Five Finger Death Punch bassist/vocalist Chris Kael sought treatment for his addiction issues earlier this year and recently made his struggles public. As he continues on a sober path after having received treatment in rehab, he has been quite frank about his past cocaine habit. Speaking with KLAQ in the below interview conducted at the ‘Las Rageous Festival‘ in Las Vegas, NV this past weekend, Kael commented:

“I was going through about an eight ball of cocaine a week. That got to be the biggest problem for me. That and depression, the two things, were not good. I didn’t realize it until I got into rehab that I was self-medicating with cocaine to get my dopamine levels up to fight the depression. I never even thought about that. And then when you come off it, you crash hard.”
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He went on to state that he felt like he was cheating his fans by portraying a different aspect of himself on social media, while ignoring his addiction issues and is glad he came out publicly with his battle. He also went on to say that “every day is a struggle” still however. Speaking further on how bad his addiction was getting and how his lifestyle aided it, he offered:

“So normally, I was bartending, I had an everyday job, something to do, going to the gym, this and this. And when I got home from this [last tour], I was, like, ‘What do I do? Do I wanna try to figure out something to do? Or do I wanna spend eight hours doing blow and watching Netflix? I’m gonna do blow and watch Netflix. I don’t wanna figure out what to do.’ So I really got into that thing. And it just got to a point where I felt like the real me was getting eaten up by the character that I portrayed on stage — the ‘He-Man,’ fucking… that guy.”

He continued on with that thread stating that while in rehab he realized that he didn’t need to continue trying to live up to his onstage persona and has since found a better balance to his life. Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody has of course also had his own battles with substance abuse as well. With Kael now the latest member on the path to sobriety, he stated in the interview that the members of the band are done with their hard partying days.

Five Finger Death Punch will release their new album “And Justice For None” on May 18th.