FLOTSAM AND JETSAM

Let's move beyond the history lesson as we all know that FLOTSAM AND JETSAM was the band that lost Jason Newsted to METALLICA and most of know how utterly badass and influential their debut, "Doomsday For The Deceiver" was, and still is, for that matter. Considering a good chunk of today's record buying public was barely a twinkle in daddy's eye when all of that went down (and we have Google to fill in the blanks),let's jump ahead to the here and now. Were FLOTSAM AND JETSAM formed two years ago in some unassuming garage in the suburbs of Arizona and "The Cold" served as their introduction to the metal community, I would be just as impressed as I am listening to the impactful comeback of a band I loved in my youth. In other words, this mother fucker rips.
As much as I expected this disc to snap me back to 1987, I was even more pleasantly surprised to hear the bulldozer of modern trash that it turned out to be. A brief taste of keys and soulful vocals explodes into some of the most aggressive music this band has ever laid to tape with "Hypocrite". The bar is raised quite high with this one, but FLOTSAM faithfully churns out one energetic and inspired tune after another. Mellower moments such as the brooding "Better Off Dead" sit nicely alongside a muscular riff-fest like "Blackened Eyes Staring" to give "The Cold" a very dynamic feel. The band leaves no metallic leaf unturned as they blend elements of groove, aggro-thrash, melody and emotion in every song. "Black Cloud" pounds away with mid-'90s / PANTERA-inspired fervor, while "Falling Short" and "K.Y.A." attacks with similar aggression found on many modern Euro-thrash records. The album's title track is perhaps FLOTSAM's most adventurous tune yet. Moody sections swell into proggy and melodic sections that eventually culminate into gigantic and crushing choruses for a very intelligently written tune.

Lyrically, "The Cold" brings a bit too much cheese to the table for the modern appetite, but vocalist Erik A.K. has never sounded better. Melodic, powerful, emotional and at times even majestic, the dude sings (and I mean actually sings) circles around most of the jokers running around out there with microphones in their hands. For that reason alone, I say we can forgive lines like "I'll kick your ass you silly girl" and "If you're cool to me I'll be cool to you".

Despite a career that is nearing the 30 year mark, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM has always flown just under the radar of the metal consuming masses. Chalk some of it up to bad timing (the '80s when you-know-who ruled the scene) and some of it to less-than-stellar material, but today allows for no excuses and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM has produced an album that proves they deserve some time in the sun. I hope the "kids" agree with me.