FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Guitarist MICHAEL GILBERT: 'I Feel Like Our Last Four Records Have Been Our Best'

In a new interview with the Disturbing The Priest podcast, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM guitarist Michael Gilbert was asked if he would agree that "the band is in a golden age right now". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, a hundred percent. And we're all stoked about it too, because through our career, everybody's always gone back to the first two records, the classic ones. And personally, I feel like our last four records has been our best. This is who we are now."

He continued: "It's a little bit frustrating because there's a lot of people that come up to me and the [other] guys in the band as well, saying they don't even know we have anything new out. They didn't know. Nobody knows what's going on. So there's a lot of factors for it, but usually that starts with a record label not doing a couple of things. In the digital age, promotions right now, it's not like it used to be. And granted, we're older dudes. We don't know how to do all the social media stuff, or we do, but we're just not good at it… But we're getting on board. We're learning a lot of stuff and we're trying to figure out. As well as we're moving to a different tier too, like a different platform. The band is on an upward trajectory, for sure. Getting new fans like you, that's great. You heard the classic stuff, but then now you've heard the newer stuff. And it sounds to me like you're digging the newer stuff as well, or more than the older stuff, which is… That's what I wanna hear."

Regarding how much of the new material will make it into the FLOTSAM AND JETSAM setlist, Gilbert said: "So that's one thing that we have all decided to do, because we get a lot of these festivals and, like, we're doing 70000 Tons Of Metal [cruise] next month and they want us to play like all the classic stuff. And we're, like, 'No. Time out. We've got new records out. We wanna play our new stuff.' So what we're starting to do is we're getting higher guarantees for the older classic sets, because we wanna shelve that for the most part and show off what we're doing now, and just do it for special occasions. [Germany's] Keep It True [festival], we did it there and that went over great. And we're gonna do it on 70000 Tons — we're playing the first and second records only, and they've requested that, but we can't keep doing that. We've gotta move forward at some point, and I think our material is as strong or stronger than our older stuff. I just want people to hear it. I don't know how to get it out there right now."

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's latest album, "I Am The Weapon", is the band's fifth release since the return of Gilbert, who is the only other member of the current FLOTSAM lineup, besides singer Eric "AK" Knutson, to have played on the group's debut LP, 1986's "Doomsday For The Deceiver".

Knutson told the Arizona Republic in a 2021 interview that Gilbert's 2010 return to FLOTSAM AND JETSAM after a 13-year absence was a pivotal moment in the band's rebirth.

"Michael was always a big part of the writing team back in the day," Knutson said. "And when he left, I just kind of used the band as an excuse to go on vacation in Europe a couple times a year. I really wasn't that worried about what the songs sounded like. I was just like, 'Okay, let's put a record out so we can get out on tour again.' We weren't serious about it." When Gilbert returned, Eric said, "We decided to make another serious stab at it and we've just been going uphill ever since."

"I Am The Weapon" arrived on September 13, 2024 via AFM/Believe.

It's been 38 years since FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, formed in Phoenix, Arizona, released "Doomsday For The Deceiver", the only album to ever receive a 6K rating from the influential British magazine Kerrang! Bassist Jason Newsted would jump ship to METALLICA while the band released "No Place For Disgrace" in 1988. "Cuatro" (1992),"Drift" (1995),"High" (1997) and "My God" (2001) all still rank extremely high in heavy metal circles. But it was the first part of this unofficial trilogy in 2016's self-titled "Flotsam And Jetsam", followed by the crushing 2019 successor "The End Of Chaos" that a certain rejuvenation and reset was clearly felt.