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\n\tFive Finger Death Punch<\/a> released the digital deluxe version of their 2022 album AfterLife<\/em> on Friday (April), which features four new bonus tracks. Among those freshies is an unexpected collab with late Ruff Ryders rapper DMX<\/a>. <\/p>\n \n\tThe song, \u201cThis Is the Way,\u201d comes complete with a video directed by X\u2019s longtime collaborator Hype Williams, which mixes black and white performance footage of FFDP with photos, cartoon images and memorial murals of DMX. \u201cYa\u2019ll heard it through the grapevine (what\u2019s that?)\/ Expect I\u2019m gonna take mine\/ Name of the game is get in where you fit in (what?)\/ Dog, I fit in at the beginning,\u201d DMX growls in the first verse in his signature rough-edged style.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMusic is meant to be universal and without boundaries, and it starts at the top with us, the artists,\u201d said\u00a0FFDP\u00a0guitarist\u00a0Zoltan Bathory in a statement. \u201cWe have always embraced the mixing of genres, whether it be the remake of\u00a0LL Cool J\u2019s \u2018Mama Said Knock You Out\u2019\u00a0featuring\u00a0Tech N9ne\u00a0as a guest,\u00a0or our collaboration with blues warrior\u00a0Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country star\u00a0Brantley Gilbert, and\u00a0Brian May, the legendary guitarist of\u00a0Queen, on the song \u2018Blue on Black.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe release did not mention when the DMX vocals were recorded, but Bathory added that the idea of a collab with the \u201cX Gon Give It To Ya\u201d MC had been \u201cin discussion for years, and it was a long and winding road to turn this particular item on our wish list into reality. He was a lyrical warrior, a true original who spoke his mind incorruptibly.\u201d The guitarist said the group had always considered DMX the \u201cmetalhead of hip-hop\u201d because of the rapper\u2019s \u201caggressive, raw, and untamed\u201d style.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe growled and snarled, aiming to rattle some cages\u2013an attitude we share, as\u00a0Five Finger Death Punch\u00a0has always been drawn to the fearless and the real,\u201d he said. \u201cIt made all the sense in the world, but today this is more than just a song; it\u2019s a salute to a legend, a way to honor\u00a0DMX\u2019s memory.\u201d\u00a0DMX died in April 2021<\/a> at age 50 after experiencing a heart attack triggerd by a drug overdose.<\/p>\n \n\tThe digital deluxe edition also features three acoustic versions of the album tracks \u201cThe End,\u201d \u201cJudgement Day\u201d and \u201cThanks For Asking.\u201d FFDP will tour Europe this summer on a headlining tour featuring Ice Nine Kills before joining Metallica as the opening act on a run of the rock icons\u2019 European stadium shows.<\/p>\n \n\tWatch the \u201cThis Is the Way\u201d video below.<\/p>\n