Flotsam and Jetsam – I Am the Weapon
Flotsam and Jetsam – I Am the Weapon
AFM Records
Release Date: 13/09/2024
Running Time: 47:26
Review by David Barreto
666/10
Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Kreator, Death Angel, Coroner, Annihilator, Overkill…
Normally those are the first ten Thrash Metal bands anybody will name if you ask for a list but I have ALWAYS felt that there is a band that has been so underrated, so overlooked that it causes me pain, actual pain, real pain.
Is it because they are not from the Bay Area? Is it because the singer is, actually, a good singer? If I have to list my Top 10 Thrash Metal bands I assure you that Slayer won’t be on that list, Metallica won’t be the first, and Flotsam and Jetsam will be in the Top 5. Have you ever really listened to their albums? I think, with Testament, these are the only two well known Thrash Metal bands that have an ascending trajectory from the very beginning.
Their first album, “Doomsday for the Deceiver” (1986), was a bit late to the Thrash Metal party (maybe) but it was definitely one of the best of the decade. It is true, though, that during the 90’s they went through a phase and distanced quite a bit from the Thrash Metal sound with “Cuatro”, “Drift” and “High” but, have you really listened to those albums? They are REALLY great. I mean, even the most Thrash Metal die hard fan accepts that the black album from Metallica is a GREAT album despite not being true Thrash Metal but most people have a different bias for these records from Flotsam and Jetsam while they are actually great.
But enough talking about the past or how fucking angry I am because you don’t FUCKING LOVE FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. Sorry, the rant is over, I promise.
This year, 2024, we are going to have the pleasure to listen to a new Flotsam and Jetsam album, called “I Am the Weapon”, released on September 13th (Friday the 13th and Flotsam and Jetsam… What a nice match!) which is going to be their fourth with AFM Records and the fifth in a row that will BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEADS OFF because they reached perfection with their 2014 release “No Place for Disgrace” and since then they have only reinvented perfection.
You expect aggressive vocals, searing guitar solos, take-no-prisoners punchy bass and killer drumming, and you will get it.
All tracks are on the short side for this style. Only one song is longer than five minutes and one is so short it is just over three minutes, but like we say a lot in Spain “the good, if short, two times as good” but that is just bullshit, I really wish this album were at least thirty minutes longer because it is amazing.
First track, ‘A New Kind of Hero’, punches you in the face so unexpectedly after a few clean guitar chords that you are still wondering what’s going on when you notice you are actually headbanging and bouncing to the chorus of the song. This song is a classic formula, but so aggressive, fast and furious that your first thought after putting yourself back together is “nah, it is impossible the whole record is going to keep up to this track”. But it will.
‘Primal’, the second track, is a bit more Heavy Metal sounding with some of the best guitar solos you have ever heard because yes, there is more than one.
Third track is the title of the album, ‘I Am the Weapon’, and it is definitely a weapon because it can kill you off with pure aggressiveness, loudness and speed. The whole band is really showing off here in this track, I mean, super high aggressive singing, super fast drumming, “ he has the keys of a fucking rocket, not just a Lamborghini” fast guitar solos and perfectly tight and punchy bass. I think I died.
Luckily for me the fourth track, ‘Burned my Bridges’, is a bit slower (still fast, though) and calmer, with a little bit more air to breathe, a more singable chorus and much more melodic guitars, but still the bass is kicking your balls and the drums are punching your timpani so hard you could die of pure pleasure.
Time to cut ‘The Head of The Snake’ with the fifth track. This one is dark, really dark. Octaves riffs for the guitars, slower vocal lines, harmonised and with tons of grit and screaming. Have I said already that Jason D. Ward has mastered The Metal Bass tone? No? Because he has. This track is definitely one of my favourites from the album, the way AK screams “the head of the snake” gives me goosebumps.
‘Beneath the Shadows’, the sixth track, is again more Heavy Metal and less Thrash Metal, but despite being almost danceable it is so straight to the point that it simply kicks ass. It reminds me a bit of “Revolution” from Rob Halford’s return to Judas Priest in the way that at first it doesn’t sound that good but the more you listen to it, the more you like it. Both tracks sound nothing alike, don’t get me wrong, but you will definitely like it more later.
And Flotsam and Jetsam definitely opened the ‘Gates of Hell’. What a way to start a song. That opening riff punched so hard that I thought I insulted Mike Tyson. Fast, aggressive, a guitar duel and a lot of drumming, I mean, the drums are really filling the whole sonic spectrum in a really awesome way. WHAT A BANGER!
‘Cold Steel Light’, the eighth track, is your typical Thrash Metal track. Fast guitars, fast drumming, first guitar solo in the first minute of the track, aggressive vocals, two more guitar solos during the second minute of the track, a slower more open bridge and a very fast and aggressive chorus for the song that opens to a clean guitar part with a more melodic but still gritty vocals to head to. To what? Yes, another guitar solo, the main one in this case. Less than four minutes, four guitar solos, harmonised guitar lines, clean guitars… yep, authentic Thrash Metal. 10/10
‘Kings of the Underworld’ gets the prize of best vocal harmonisations of the record turning the most plain song of the record, because the singing is more rhythmic and less melodic, into a super dark, super epic track.
There are not many bands that started in the eighties that still can play Thrash Metal like Flotsam and Jetsam do in this track, ‘Running Through the Fire’, the tenth track of the record and the most thrashy of all. Any of the Big 4 would be jealous of this track.
The closure of the record comes with ‘Black Wings’, the longest track of the album with five minutes and nineteen seconds of pure dark and evil goodness. This is the most epic track from the record which is their signature sound, changing the typical rawness that used to define Thrash Metal into a dark and epic atmosphere that blows your mind with beauty and aggressiveness on equal parts, blowing your head off while nurturing your soul.
I do believe that Flotsam and Jetsam are the best original (I mean from the eighties) Thrash Metal band still active and the only one that have really got better and better with each record and specially during the last ten years they are, unquestionably, the only ones that really deliver what you expect: beauty and aggression.
– Poor unfortunate soul, it’s sad but true, if you want to cross the bridge you’ve got to pay the toll.
Free yourself from the prejudice of this band being just “where James Newsted came from” and listen to their music.
– Flotsam, Jetsam, now I’ve got them, boys.
Hasta la vista, Ever-Metallers!
‘A New Kind of Hero’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. A New Kind of Hero
02. Primal
03. I Am the Weapon
04. Burned My Bridges
05. The Head of the Snake
06. Beneath the Shadows
07. Gates of Hell
08. Cold Steel Lights
09. Kings of the Underworld
10. Running through the Fire
11. Black Wings
LINE-UP:
Vocals – Erik A. Knutson
Guitars – Mark T. Simpson
Guitars – Michael Gilbert
Bass – James D. Ward
Drums – Craig Nielsen
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of David Barreto and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
