Review Summary: Bringing the best parts of thrash classic No Place for Disgrace and the modern metal of The Cold...
There is a song on
The Cold called ‘Black Cloud’ that pretty much sums up Flotsam and Jetsam’s career – bright shining moments clouded by unrelenting bad luck. From the constant member and record label churn to the incredibly bad timing of breaking into the mainstream right before the great metal crash of the early 90s. When the band had to return to Metal Blade Records, you could hear the disappointment in those first few metal-by-the-numbers releases, and you could see it as even their long-time vocalist finally jumped ship for a short spell; then came
The Cold. Suddenly the band seemed not only reinvigorated, but also inspired and ready to take their sound in a more modern direction. Once again, though, it didn’t last. The guitar player responsible for a lot of
The Cold’s sound left, and fans were back at square one. The follow-up,
Ugly Noise, dumped everything that made
The Cold exciting and replaced it with a collection of songs that really could have been
Cuatro/
Drift B-Sides. It wasn’t a bad album, but it seemed like the band had lost their inspiration again.
Like clockwork, Flotsam and Jetsam hemorrhaged more members before eventually ending up with Michael Spencer on bass and Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall on drums. Having Michael Spencer back in the band immediately peaked fan interest since he co-wrote a few tracks on
No Place for Disgrace, and was reportedly bringing a few un-used songs from that writing session back for this album. Now, I can’t tell you with 100% certainty which tracks might have originated from those sessions, but I can guess. Opener ‘Seventh Seal’ with its double bass-filled galloping riffs and fantasy lyrics sounds like it could have easily begun life in the late 80s. Later, ‘L.O.T.D.’ sounds even more like an unused (but excellent) idea from
No Place for Disgrace with its quick tempo, dual-guitar harmonies, and rapid-fire vocal delivery. The other thing that is obvious on these tracks is none of them were brought into the album without being updated. Despite sounding like they could have originated in 1988, it’s also obvious each one has been given a modern day facelift. A lot of the modern influences come with the return of Flotsam and Jetsam’s Nevermore-inspired
The Cold.
The Cold is the album that finally found Flotsam and Jetsam at the right place at the time; cranking out heavy cyclic riffs, moody aggression, and Eric Knutson’s most diverse and intense vocal delivery to date. Each song on this self-titled release brings a bit of
The Cold’s inspiration into its formula, and there are even a few that pick up right where their 2010 release left off. ‘Taser’ kicks off with a heavy riff that could have easily come from
The Cold, but injects it with the youthful energy of the band’s thrash days. The best song on the album is also the one that owes the most to the band’s more modern sound. ‘Verge of Tragedy’ takes the best parts of
The Cold and wraps them all into one track. It has the balls-heavy riffs, the pounding drums, the moody feel, a varied and emotional vocal assault, and a positively ripping chorus. It’s also worth noting that Jason Bittner’s involvement on this album has pushed the band’s drum parts to a level they’ve never been. A drummer in a band is like a slot receiver in football. If you have an average one it probably won’t affect your overall performance, but if you can find a great one it can bring up the performances of everyone around them. That is what Jason Bittner has done with the unrelenting precision and creative playing on this album.
With the constant personnel rotations, it’s always a bit of a surprise when it comes to a new Flotsam and Jetsam release. Sometimes it’s a good surprise and sometimes it’s a little bit of a disappointment. Flotsam and Jetsam’s new self-titled release is definitely a good surprise. It brings back the 80s thrash vibe in a way that even the band’s
No Place for Disgrace re-recording couldn’t pull off, and it blends it with the modern moody aggression of
The Cold. This blend easily places it in the top 5 of Flotsam and Jetsam’s discography, led by the standout track ‘Verge of Tragedy’. If
Ugly Noise made it seem like Flotsam and Jetsam were kind of going through the motions and lacking direction, their self-titled release with returning member Michael Spencer and fresh blood Jason Bittner completely make up for it while proving that sometimes a little member churn can be a good thing.
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