FLOTSAM AND JETSAM

THE SETUP

Long-time desert thrashers Flotsam and Jetsam return with their first release for Napalm Records. With only two years since their last studio effort, I Am The Weapon (which received a stellar review from Allfather Metal’s very own Jim Harrison), the guys return with their 17th full-length album, Rats In The Temple. Upon initial spin, the album definitely serves as a refinement of their complete history. They retain the speed and soaring vocals of 1986’s classic Doomsday For The Deceiver, but trade the raw, low-budget 80s production for the ultra-tight, modern mix we’ve come to know of them over the last few albums. The most surprising thing is the inclusion of blast beats and symphonic elements, which the band has never experimented with before. Does it work? Let’s find out!

THE REVIEW

‘HARVESTING THE HATE’
The lead-off track does not hide its intentions. This thing is filled to the brim with arena-level hooks and progressive thrash nods that’ll perk the ears of any Iced Earth, Testament or modern Judas Priest lover. This beast hacks away at the brain with Priest‘s metallic precision, while drummer Ken Mary then proceeds to stomp on your already mashed cranium with Gene Hoglan-like machine-gun kick work. While you are getting your ass pulversized into nonexistence, Eric A.K. delivers a dreamy Matt Barlow-infused vocal melody that tears you from the clutches of death. It is here that we get the first glimpses of the symphonic elements, which are utilized as an orchestral intro, much like Blind Guardian‘s ‘Nightfall’ and ‘Imaginations From The Other Side’. It works fantastically for building tension and creating a theatrical atmosphere.

‘DAMNATION’ | ‘ABSOLUTION‘
There is no better descriptor than full-on thrash assault to describe the next two tracks, ‘Damnation’ and ‘Absolution’. The former, ‘Damnation’, while heavy as all fuk, builds off the opening track’s arena hooks. It is anthemic in a way that will get fists and horns flying, while also galloping into a rhythmic thrash attack not unlike modern Testament (think Dark Roots Of Earth and Titans Of Creation). The latter, ‘Absolution’, is a full-on Bay Area-style attack that also showcases a razor-sharp, hyper-technical approach not unlike Annihilator‘s Alice In Hell. I’m also getting hints of Paradox (often referred to as Germany’s answer to Megadeth), particularly in the dual lead work of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley.

‘BLAME THE KNIFE’
An early contender for my favourite track on the album. This is probably the closest thing we’ve gotten to No Place For Disgrace since that album dropped all the way back in ’88; the minor-key tension in tracks such as ‘Hard On You’ and ‘Misguided Fortune’ runs throughout this thing. The overall tone of this song is quite dark, achieved through cleverly placed dissonance that, to these ears, recalls the more eerie moments of Nevermore‘s classic Dead Heart In A Dead World. Beneath all the dread, we are once again flattened into fleshy pancakes by the bulldozing, mid-paced thrash groove of modern Testament. It’s gonna be hard to top this one!

‘RATS IN THE TEMPLE‘
Well, I was wrong. After repeated listens, the title track, ‘Rats In The Temple’, has become, without doubt, my favourite track on the album. In fact, this might be my favourite track of the band, period. The track begins with an orchestral intro that tears a page right from the blackened, misanthropic book of Norway’s mighty Dimmu Borgir. It’s dark, brooding, and perfectly sets up the musical narrative to come. Without missing a beat, the song then launches into a drum intro that gives Scott Travis’ legendary intro on Judas Priest‘s ‘Painkiller’ a run for its money. The hyper-fast quad fills (hand/foot combinations), pounding double-kick rolls, and snap-neck snare cracks break the dramatic tension of the theatrical intro in the most metal of ways, sending shivers down the spine. Absolute perfection!

The real meat and potatoes here is the use of intricate, progressive speed metal that recalls the brilliance of the late, great Chuck Schuldiner’s Control Denied. Gilbert and Conley replicate, with perfection, Schuldiner’s offbeat picking and syncopated time shifts (a clear example of this can be found on Control Denied‘s ‘Expect the Unexpected’), while Eric holds sustained, pitch-perfect tenor notes over the top. While Eric isn’t exactly Tim Aymar (Control Denied‘s phenomenal vocalist), he approaches the song’s chorus and climax using Tim’s classic mix-voice compression, with no half-assed falsettos in sight. Remarkable, and not something I ever expected from a Flotsam and Jetsam song. At this point, it’s gonna be nearly impossible to top this one!

‘THE GHOST BEHIND MY DOOR‘
Alright. So, this song is clearly a showboat for Gilbert and Conely to flex their Mustaine-like muscle. The velocity with which they execute their alternate picking is absolutely absurd, in much the same way Mustaine and Marty Friedman approached their picking attack on Rust In Peace. While the song’s verses chug away with Bay Area intensity, the chorus nails the sound of European-style symphonic power metal, more specifically Roy Khan-era Kamelot. I’m hearing 2005’s Black Halo in Eric’s vocal phrasing, where he eschews his thrash bark for a smooth, dramatic legato delivery that drips with emotion.

At first, I was almost certain there were orchestral elements buried beneath the chorus. Upon repeated listens, it became clear that what I thought were keys are, in fact, multiple tracks of minor-key guitar harmonies layered beneath Eric’s soaring vocals. The blending of ambient reverb and wide panning mimics the swell and texture of a classical string section, while the stacking of Eric’s vocals creates the illusion of a choir or symphonic backdrop. These guys are so talented they don’t need no damn orchestra. Nuff said.

‘FIRST ON THE SPIKE‘
This one is a straightforward, mid-tempo thrasher with a catchy-yet-clever bridge that you’ll be humming for days. The chorus is equally catchy, reminding me of Blessing In Disguise-era Metal Church, mixed with the massive, swinging, rock-infused metal choruses on Flotsam and Jetsam‘s 1992 album, Cuatro. Perfectly situated exactly halfway through the album, this track is clearly intended as a fist-pumping, headbanging romper before things get crazy again.

‘THE EDGE OF NOWHERE‘
Intriguingly, the track kicks off with an exotic tension built around Eastern/Phrygian scales. With the pyramids in sight, we are suddenly ripped back into the world of sharp, angular chromatic riffing and rapid-fire palm-muting that is clearly inspired by the likes of Megadeth‘s ‘Dystopia’. The thrashing intensity is then broken by the return of Eastern/Phrygian elements, with an interlude that recalls the classic Arch/Matheos era of progressive US power metallers Fates Warning. To be perfectly honest, I would have liked to hear more of those Eastern elements peppered throughout the song, building toward something truly epic. As it stands, the song is an above-average modern-era thrasher that will certainly satiate the hunger for shred.

‘LAST RITES‘
Again, we enter the land of the anthemic with the track ‘Last Rites’. The chorus on this one is BIG, with Ken Mary pounding his double-kicks straight into it like thunder rolling across a mountain valley, while the staccato palm-muting and power chord progressions of Gilbert and Conley create a soaring wind that flows into the valley, setting the stage for Eric’s luscious vocal hook. There is a weight to the song that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. After repeated listens, my ears locked into bassist Bill Bodily, where the speed and resonance of his low-end execution mirror the precision and boom of Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, ex-Death, ex-Sadus).

‘A TASTE FOR WAR‘
Don’t let the title fool you, as this song is about as anti-war as one can get. Where ‘The Ghost Behind My Door’ was a technical showcase for Gilbert and Conley, this song absolutely highlights the pounding rhythm section of Ken Mary and Bill Bodily. Fittingly, the song marches along at a militaristic pace, with the drums and bass matching the intensity of boots on the ground and tanks on the battlefield. Gilbert and Conley ain’t no slouches either, trading in their intense riffing for massive, crushing rhythms. Eric’s vocals also follow suit, his cadence one of a general barking orders, albeit orders of the metal kind.

‘HER BLOOD YOUR PAIN‘
Am I hearing a Gothenburg hook on this one? That main riff has the twin-guitar, minor-key harmonies of melo-death kings In Flames written all over it. A stellar track that exudes a European edge that sets it apart from standard American thrash. Apparently these guys can do it all! I actually prefer this approach to melodic thrash vs. what Kreator are doing these days. While Mille prefers bright diatonic major and natural minor scales in parallel thirds, his songs end up with an almost pop-like feel, featuring uplifting melodies that render them highly predictable. Gilbert and Conley’s approach favours diminished intervals, minor seconds, and chromatic passing notes, which give the harmonies an unpredictable, ominous tone. Flotsam and Jetsam über Kreator!

‘ANTHEM FOR THE BROKEN‘
Musically speaking, this one could have easily rested alongside any of the brilliant tracks found on Iced Earth‘s 1998 magnum opus, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The themes of trauma, survival, abuse, and mental resilience bolster the incredibly visceral musical onslaught, culminating in a rallying cry for the alienated and damaged amongst our populace. The album could have ended here on an incredibly high, anthemic note, yet we have one track to go.

‘GOING DOWN THAT WAY‘
Right out of the gate, the track kicks you in the gut with a crushingly heavy Anthrax-like stomp. There are no sixteenth-note runs anywhere to be found in the first thirty seconds, which is a welcome change of pace. Ken Mary aligns his snare and kick hits perfectly with Gilbert and Conley’s down-picked, palm-muted, Scott Ian-like syncopated groove, giving the whole thing a half-time swaying rhythm that is perfect for the pit. Things veer wildly at the twenty-five-second mark, with the introduction of a tension-filled verse that is quite dynamic in execution. The chorus brings back the stomp, albeit in a very melodic and atmospheric way, not unlike For All Kings-era Anthrax, whereby Eric replicates the soulful, R&B/classic-rock-influenced cleans of Joey Belladonna over some truly barbarous modern thrash riffing.

THE VERDICT

As much as the mighty “Ms” (Metallica and Megadeth) have faltered over the years, a handful of legacy bands have remained remarkably consistent: Testament, Overkill, Sodom, Death Angel, and, of course, Flotsam and Jetsam. Of those veterans, Flotsam have arguably been the most dependable, not without their missteps, of course (anyone remember that 2014 re-recording of No Place For Disgrace? I thought not). Today, they’re playing with a ruthless, revitalized hunger, dropping banger after banger, and Rats In The Temple might just be their absolute masterpiece. The quality of both the writing and the musicianship is staggering, particularly their ability to seamlessly weave multiple subgenres together as if it’s second nature. The only complaint I have of Rats In The Temple is that it’s a bit long in the tooth. This isn’t to say that any particular track suffers, as there really aren’t any skippable tracks of the thirteen. There are just some ideas and similar threads across several tracks that could have been coalesced into one or two epic tracks. Ten tracks would have been the sweet spot. Apart from that, this is a perfect album.