This year is quite special for Phoenix, Arizona’s thrash pride Flotsam and Jetsam, because it marks four decades since the band was formed and to top this off, their fifteenth studio album I Am The Weapon will hit the shelves mid September. In fact, Flotsam is a band we had almost always relied upon to deliver high quality metal, with very, very few missteps (see Drift, High or Ugly Noise) made through the years. The last decade, however, is like a rebirth of the band, with three consecutive really strong releases and some crucial line-up changes with the arrival of Steve Conley on second guitar (beside veteran shredder Michal Gilbert) and the super talented drummer Ken Mary, who has played with Alice Copper and House Of Lords (to name a few) and still is simultaneously in Fifth Angel. Bill Bodily is the “new guy” in the band, joining in 2020 just in time for the recordings of the amazing Blood On The Water. Of course, we would be talking of some other band were it not for the legendary frontman Eric Knutson, who is the only member to have stayed in the band through all these 40 years.
I Am The Weapon shows from the very first song that the positive trend from the last three albums is kept once again, A New Kind Of Hero crushing with its monster riffs and an even more impressive, epic chorus. Eric A.K. is just fantastic – I can’t think of enough praise for this man’s vocal talent. The sound, just like in the previous two albums is just a little bit overproduced, the mastering a bit too polished and sterile. It’s a minor remark, and it could just be me, but I would prefer a warmer sound and production. Anyway, Primal hits with one more melodic masterclass chorus by Eric and once again stresses on the obliterating rhythm section and especially the inhuman drumming of Ken Mary. The title track is probably the least impressive of the bunch (along with Beneath The Shadows) and just doesn’t click for me with the too forced vocals during the chorus and sounding heavy for the sake of it.
The best songs in the new Flotsam album are the ones where they let it loose, not bounded by the “thrash” tag, introducing some epic heavy metal and even progressive structures, like in Burned My Bridges, The Head Of The Snake and the aforementioned opening song. Gates Of Hell does much better what the title track didn’t deliver and Cold Steel Lights is a typical thrasher, which count sit well in either of the last albums (do I smell some auto-plagiarism in the chorus? Hmm…). Kings Of The Underworld and Running Through The Fire are solid songs, worthy of the Flotsam name, but this is where a feeling of the band treading water started to creep in. Don’t get me wrong, I Am The Weapon is as strong as any of the three previous albums, but it seems like playing it too safe by now, knowing that they can easily compose ten more albums of the same high quality while taking no risks.
The last song dragged me out of these thoughts being the album’s absolute masterpiece. Black Wings is a dark, ominous composition, even some keyboards spicing up the chorus, with a very anthemic build up and mood. I literally had goosebumps for the first time through the whole album. This is stellar material and Flotsam need more songs like this to reach the next level. This is a band with nothing more to prove, they’ve hit the bull’s eye with a style they’ve been mastering in the last four albums and even though I Am The Weapon ticks all the boxes once again, I know they are capable of more.
8,5/10
Flotsam and Jetsam in Facebook
I Am The Weapon is out on September 13th via Afm Records and can be ordered from HERE
