Flotsam and Jetsam – Blood in the Water
Release Date: 4th June 2021
Label: AFM Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Speed Metal, Thrash Metal.
FFO: Anthrax, Metal Church, Testament, Exodus, Metallica.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Blood in the Water is the 14th album in the long and varied career of Thrash pioneers Flotsam and Jetsam. Despite owning a couple of their albums, I never really ‘got’ F&J in the same way as I got into their peers, and I include bands like Testament and Exodus in that way, not just the big 4. I always ignored Flotsam and, in listening to Blood in the Water, that may have been a bit of a faux pas on my part.
Blood in the Water is a throwback to classic speed/thrash metal, but without ever sounding old fashioned or outdated, an oxymoron if you wish, but it is a modern throwback. Superb clean vocals, no growls here please, excellent solos and a rhythm section that is as tight as a Nun’s chuff. Alas, F&J do slip into cheesy cliché lyrics (one of the reasons I have previously disregarded them), but the power of the riff will overcome all.
The title song is the first track on the album and it is the pre-cursor on what to expect. Your initial thought is that the rest of the album will struggle to live up to it. Blood in the Water is one of the strongest opening tracks I have heard all year. It is followed by the similarly great, ‘Burn the Sky’. Both songs grab you by your genitalia, daring you to jump about like a loon, knowing you will welcome the pain.
When the 3rd track, Braced for Impact hits, you are hit with vibes of the late, great Ronnie James Dio as vocalist Eric ‘AK’ Knutson delivers an absolute masterclass. You also begin to think that F&J may be in the process of delivering an album that may rank with their best. I have spent today listening to old school F&J and I believe that AK has never sounded as good as he does on this album. He has the sound of a man who has learned his craft and is truly comfortable with his voice.
The next track is a riff driven beast; however, it is one of the songs where the lyrics just seem a bit cheesy, and it is a crushing disappointment. It is where the band find their Achilles heel, and no riff of doom can help it. You want to love it, the song has so much going for it then, boom, chorus. Tears follow!
Walls! YES YES YES…… F&J you have brought it back. Possibly the most ‘old school’ of the songs on show, it has a classic, maidenesque, riff but it is AK that truly excels here. Truly outstanding.
Cry for the Dead is a ballad, well for the first 54 seconds anyway before it gets all shouty, before resorting to a ballad again etc. It is probably the most confused sounding track on the album and doesn’t really gel together, struggling to fit several ideas together into one song. Wicked Hour plods along without creating any of the excitement of the earlier tracks. It is not quite a filler, the riff is still there, AK is still there, but there is also a tiny bit missing.
‘To many people, too many lives, and most are evil, look in their eyes’. Again, the lyrics start to let the album down. Too Many Lives has a pummelling riff, but again the lyrics crucify the song. You’d sing this song at the gigs, but the riff is the reason you’d be pumping your fist. Tears, once again, form in my eyes in disappointment.
The next track is Dragon, presumably the catalyst for the truly stunning cover art, and it has a power metal feel about it. The heroic AK tries to save it with his magnificent vocals but can’t really raise the song above the ordinary. Reaggression attempts to readdress the balance, but with not much success. It lacks the gravitas of the earlier tracks and you begin to wonder if the album has indeed begun to fade away.
Undone is the shortest track on the album, and this time it grabs the album by the scruff of its neck and forces you to reassess your enjoyment of it. The chorus is the saviour and it, again, has a solo that fits the song like a glove.
The final song on the album is 7 Seconds¸ and to be honest, it rips the pish a bit. Blood in the Water is an album that starts incredibly strong and then fades. Then, when you have given up, 7 Seconds sticks the head on you, calling you a pussy and threatens to pump your sister. It tries to make you reassess your feelings towards the rest of the album. It doesn’t quite redeem the album’s flaws though.
I try not to write track by track album reviews, it is for the listener to explore and enjoy the album, warts and all. However, with Blood in the Water, you are taken on a genuine rollercoaster of emotions. When it is good, it is VERY good. Scarily good, in fact, for a band that has never quite reached the level they potentially dreamt of. It is also very frustrating. There are too many lyrical issues that are genuinely annoying.
The most impressive aspect of Blood in the Water is the performance of AK on vocals. He delivers on every single song, and in listening to random tracks in their back catalogue, he has never sounded better.
(3.5 / 5)
