High (1997)
As noted below: "These are the type of albums I hope to find in a thrift bin CD pile." And here we go! I only knew the first two F & J albums, and I documented Doomsday for the Deceiver below. High is their 6th album released at a time when thrash was completely out of vogue. As such there are some trendy groove metal insertions. Eric AK isn't screaming anymore, sounding more like Hetfield during this era. Plenty of wah wah pedal bluesy solos and stoner rock moves. Back cover shows song titles using famous band logo fonts (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Van Halen, etc...), but it doesn't appear the music matches the style of these bands. In any case High is fairly ordinary heavy metal, an all too common problem for the late 90s. It's good, but nothing more.
Source: 1997 Metal Blade (CD)
8/29/23 (review)
Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
My only exposure to Flotsam and Jetsam real time was No Place For Disgrace (1988), an album I picked up and enjoyed but it never bowled me over. I kept it for a long time before ultimately letting it go. I wouldn't have done that today, but it's not a big deal. Only in the last few years did I finally obtain a CD of their debut. Of course I knew who the band were back in the day. If you were a thrash metal fan who didn't? As any dedicated fan knows, this is the album that bassist Jason Newsted debuted on. Within that same year he would famously replace Cliff Burton in Metallica after he died in a tragic accident. But when this debut album was released, it was a rather obscure and typical Metal Blade thrash release, of which one a week were coming out back then. Doomsday for the Deceiver is meat and potatoes thrash. It's not particularly heavy for 1986, certainly nowhere near Master of Puppets. The dual guitar lines are crisp and melodic, and Eric A.K. breaks glass with the best of them. Newsted does show his massive bass chops here, and at times it seems he's the lead instrument. The guitar solos are a slight cut above, as Flotsam and Jetsam always had an ear for melody. As the years roll by, I do get a nostalgia pull out of this era of thrash, so I enjoyed a +1 listen.
9/1/16; 12/23/22 (review)
My only exposure to Flotsam and Jetsam real time was No Place For Disgrace (1988), an album I picked up and enjoyed but it never bowled me over. I kept it for a long time before ultimately letting it go. I wouldn't have done that today, but it's not a big deal. Only in the last few years did I finally obtain a CD of their debut. Of course I knew who the band were back in the day. If you were a thrash metal fan who didn't? As any dedicated fan knows, this is the album that bassist Jason Newsted debuted on. Within that same year he would famously replace Cliff Burton in Metallica after he died in a tragic accident. But when this debut album was released, it was a rather obscure and typical Metal Blade thrash release, of which one a week were coming out back then. Doomsday for the Deceiver is meat and potatoes thrash. It's not particularly heavy for 1986, certainly nowhere near Master of Puppets. The dual guitar lines are crisp and melodic, and Eric A.K. breaks glass with the best of them. Newsted does show his massive bass chops here, and at times it seems he's the lead instrument. The guitar solos are a slight cut above, as Flotsam and Jetsam always had an ear for melody. As the years roll by, I do get a nostalgia pull out of this era of thrash, so I enjoyed a +1 listen.
This along with No Place are still the only two albums I've heard by the group, and they are still around to this day. These are the type of albums I hope to find in a thrift bin CD pile. Or vinyl in some cases, but of course they are now price prohibitive if paying retail.
Ownership: 1986 Metal Blade (LP). Lyric inner bag.9/1/16; 12/23/22 (review)
12/23/22 (new entry)
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