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Flotsam And Jetsam - The End Of Chaos review



Reviewer:
N/A

187 users:
8.11
Band: Flotsam And Jetsam
Album: The End Of Chaos
Release date: January 2019


01. Prisoner Of Time
02. Control
03. Recover
04. Prepare For Chaos
05. Slowly Insane
06. Architects Of Hate
07. Demolition Man
08. Unwelcome Surprise
09. Snake Eye
10. Survive
11. Good Or Bad
12. The End

Life can sometimes be unfair.

Flotsam And Jetsam generally have the respect of metal fans, partly because "Jason Newsted was there, dude" and partly because of their first two classic releases, but they have remained stuck in this not-so-prestigious position that lies below the Big Four, the Big Teutonic Four, the groove thrash giants Pantera and Machine Head or even the second-tier U.S. thrashers, such as Testament, Exodus or Overkill and I am strictly talking in terms of popularity here.

Having said that, this band now sounds clearly rejuvenated and more confident than ever. It takes a lot of courage to release a self-titled album 30 years after your debut but it was totally justified because Flotsam And Jetsam was their best offering since No Place For Disgrace. And using Flotzilla for the first time since Doomsday For The Deceiver and thus unleashing another artwork abomination upon the world is very risky because it creates ridiculous expectations and you really have to deliver.

But Flotsam And Jetsam do so much more than just deliver with The End Of Chaos.

The opening track, "Prisoner Of Time" gives you a glimpse of the all the traits that make this album addicting. The thundering rhythm section, the blazing guitar work, the soaring vocals, I have to warn you that I am going to run out of clichés to praise this record but it is worth every single one of those.

There is no respite during its runtime, as its 12 completely fat-free tracks press the gas pedal to the floor and feature every single ingredient necessary to beat you senseless. The End Of Chaos is full of insanely lethal riffs all over and powerful melodic touches, undoubtedly influenced by classic heavy metal, that make it as groovy and catchy as they come. Drummer Ken Mary, who replaced the incredibly talented Jason Bittner after the latter joined Overkill, is doing wonders behind the kit and gives a maniacal, as well as inventive, masterclass as to how drums should be played. Michael Spencer's bass is loud and badass and adds volume to the already massive riffs. But the absolute star in the album is Erik Knutson. A.K.'s voice has aged and matured beautifully, he sounds like the perfect mix of John Bush, Geoff Tate and Warrel Dane and it is so great and rare to hear someone who can actually sing in a thrash metal band. His sing-along choruses stick to your brain forever and are meant to be repeated together with thousands of people in live settings; I confess that I can't wait to see Flotsam And Jetsam perform this entire beast live.

Any effort to single out tracks is futile because The End Of Chaos is all killer, plain and simple. For those of us who forged our eardrums in the 1980s listening to the thrash pioneers it brings pure joy and a big smile on our faces; for the younger metalheads, it will push your neck muscles to their limit and, to borrow a line from the lyrics, you "will never recover from this."

Fucking hell, what an absolute fucking banger.





Written on 04.02.2019 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud!


Comments

Comments: 16   Visited by: 230 users
04.02.2019 - 12:15
nikarg

I really want to see if Overkill can top this.
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04.02.2019 - 12:58
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by nikarg on 04.02.2019 at 12:15

I really want to see if Overkill can top this.

Maybe, but no thsts best tm album in a decade
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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04.02.2019 - 15:38
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Quote:
the second-tier U.S. thrashers, such as Testament, Exodus or Overkill


Second tier... I have no words.
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04.02.2019 - 16:29
Maco
Pvt Funderground
In terms of popularity.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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04.02.2019 - 18:27
nikarg

Written by Maco on 04.02.2019 at 16:29

In terms of popularity.

Thank you for explaining the obvious.
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04.02.2019 - 18:31
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Not so obvious, obviously.
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04.02.2019 - 18:34
nikarg

Written by Daniell on 04.02.2019 at 18:31

Not so obvious, obviously.

"and I am strictly talking in terms of popularity here."
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05.02.2019 - 10:09
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by nikarg on 04.02.2019 at 18:34

Written by Daniell on 04.02.2019 at 18:31

Not so obvious, obviously.

"and I am strictly talking in terms of popularity here."

Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica. No doubt about the popularity of these. But no way Anthrax is more popular than Testament. Maybe they were back in the 80's, but definitely not since then. The same can be said about Overkill I think.
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05.02.2019 - 10:39
Rating: 10
Kuroboshi

Ignoring the whole discussion about popularity, I agree, this might for me the thrash metal of the decade. Then again, I'm not much of a thrash fan to begin with, so take this with a grain of salt.
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05.02.2019 - 16:21
nikarg

Written by Daniell on 05.02.2019 at 10:09

Written by nikarg on 04.02.2019 at 18:34

Written by Daniell on 04.02.2019 at 18:31

Not so obvious, obviously.

"and I am strictly talking in terms of popularity here."

Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica. No doubt about the popularity of these. But no way Anthrax is more popular than Testament. Maybe they were back in the 80's, but definitely not since then. The same can be said about Overkill I think.

I can hardly see the point of this discussion because the only thing I was trying to get across in the review is that F&J have always been under the shadow of all the bands I mention in terms of popularity. Anthrax is part of what is called the "Big-4" and this will never change. Being part of that group of bands means more recognition, more popularity, more overall sales and better spots at live shows and festivals (meaning Testament or Exodus or Overkill play before Anthrax even today). Testament were supporting Anthrax in their tour for Worship Music (and Overkill and F&J supported Testament around that time in their headlining tour for Dark Roots Of The Earth) and they were playing before Anthrax last year during the Slayer farewell tour. The same will happen at Hellfest next summer. I suppose we can all agree that the more popular band plays after the less popular band in live shows.

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05.02.2019 - 20:23
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by nikarg on 05.02.2019 at 16:21

stuff

I was lucky enough to see Slayer on this tour. In Europe it was Obituary instead of Testament. A poster can prove me wrong of course, and I'm not going to fight tooth and nail for what I said.

At least we agree on the F&L album - it's fucking great.
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08.02.2019 - 11:09
Rating: 6
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
I orgasmed seeing your last paragraph.
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13.01.2020 - 21:24
nikarg

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 08.02.2019 at 11:09

I orgasmed seeing your last paragraph.

It's an orgasmic album
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14.01.2020 - 07:04
Rating: 6
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by nikarg on 13.01.2020 at 21:24

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 08.02.2019 at 11:09

I orgasmed seeing your last paragraph.

It's an orgasmic album


Unfortunately, I easily orgasmed reading your last para than listening to new F&J.
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15.06.2020 - 00:09
Rating: 10
sgtrobo

Short and sweet here - best thrash album in close to 30 years
stone cold masterpiece. They managed to top their first 2, somehow.
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18.10.2020 - 08:41
Rating: 7
tintinb

I shall keep their last self titled album a few notches higher than this one. For me this album fell short of that critical melodic quality that was so omnipresent in their previous album. Also some of the riffs sounded a bit half baked, like they started off pretty magnificently but then lost steam somewhere along the way.
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Leeches everywhere.
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