Ah, yes: the late career renaissance. Some veteran acts are lucky enough to have them. Others not so much. Flotsam and Jetsam falls into the former. After releasing two of the finest slabs of melodic thrash metal ever recorded (1986’s Doomsday for the Deceiver and 1988’s No Place for Disgrace), the band spent the better part of 25 years releasing albums that were okay at best and forgettable at worst. Then, out of nowhere, F&J got their mojo back! You know how the last Halloween completely disregarded the countless sequels released in between it and the original? F&J’s self titled 2016 album did the same, as if nothing had been released since No Place for Disgrace. “What? We re-recorded No Place for Disgrace? Why would we ever do that?”
2019’s The End of Chaos was an even stronger release which, as far as I can remember, left nearly every other thrash release that year in the dust. Well, every release thrash release aside from Overkill’s Wings of War and Sadistic Ritual’s Visionaire of Death (which borders on death metal), but I digress. Its balance of melody and aggression recalled the good ol’ days. And although there were occasional shades of modernity within the production and riffs, the 80s continued to lie at the core of F&J’s sound. This brings us to the present day and the release of F&J’s fifteenth studio album, Blood in the Water.
Upon first listen, Blood in the Water seems to focus more on the aggressive side of things than melodic. From the opening notes to the title track, F&J plays with a conviction more characteristic of Death Angel or Slayer than what they’re known for. That said, it’s a welcome change. I found myself headbanging from beginning to end during this song, as well as cuts like “Brace for Impact”, “The Wicked Hour”, and “Grey Dragon”. The riffs are bludgeoning, Eric AK’s vocals soar high as ever, and drummer Ken Mary blasts away on the double bass drums like they owe him money. One thing’s for certain: F&J show zero sign of age throughout this entire album.
When they aren’t thrashing our eardrums, F&J steers towards the traditional side of things, playing a muscular brand of old school metal that lies somewhere between classic power metal and Painkiller era Judas Priest. It should be noted that like Metal Church, F&J always tended to incorporate more melody than their thrash contemporaries. This is evident on the midtempo madness of “The Walls”, the ripping rage of “Too Many Lives”, and the grand power metal finale, “Seven Seconds ‘Til the End of the World”. These traditional tracks have thrash undertones in the drumming and riffing, but that’s to be expected as F&J is a thrash band first and foremost.
Now despite being a very strong record, Blood in the Water doesn’t stick with me the way Flotsam and Jetsam and especially The End of Chaos does. A couple tracks felt out of place and while F&J can thrash with the heaviest of them, I do prefer their melodic side more. I hope the band takes this into account when recording album #16. Until then, I’ll continue to check out Blood in the Water and let the “Metalshock” course through my veins.
7 out of 10
Label: AFM Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Metal Church, Anthrax, Overkill