Let’s talk about Flotsam and Jetsam’s 13th full length studio album from AFM Records, The End of Chaos. This 12 track assault from the current metal quintet is comprised of: Eric “AK” Knutson – vocals; Michael Gilbert – guitars; Steve Conley- guitars; Michael Spencer – bass; Ken Mary – drums.
I review with my feelings which I often get ridiculed for, but like I give a shit. I’ll feel what I want to feel and if you don’t like it stick around those feelings will change. Your well thoughtout gems of intricate wisdom; fads or fickle; puhtato, potato… The 80s metal man in me feels 3 things about this album right off the bat…
1. This album fucking rocks! Its headbanging from start to finish. I don’t detect a lot of pussy ballad music on it, which means the bullshit is left behind. The closest the album comes to a “power ballad” is their haunting rendition set upon the altar of the metal gods of personal pain, “Recover”. A serious misnomer, this song hits you in the good parts about an injury to the heart and mind so deep we may never recover…all done at about 120 beats a minute! (Hell yeah - take that Nightwish!)
2. Friends, if I heard this album in the 1983, when real metal was played and not artistically not artistically emoted swill (pause and vomit), I would have considered it, quote ”experimental”. Songs such as “Prepare For Chaos“, “Good Or Bad“, and my personal favorite “Demolition Man” were played so immensely and intensely that I’m sure “rajasthani folk musical instruments” all over the world were blowing up like a Samsung Smartphone roasting the ears of whoever had it next to their head.
3. The 3rd thing I noticed on this album is that the lyrics on this album are badass. They are dark and deep: addressing pain, heartache, insanity, disaster, despair, fantastical realms and general dark-heartedness. The point is, Flotsam and Jetsam on The End Of Chaos addresses the issues all good metalheads deal with in life. And yet, none of that mattered. The kick-ass lyrics are secondary to the kick-ass music that caused me to bang my head from start to finish. I experienced metal on a primal, neck traumatizing level, and this album meets all the criteria for such an album.
One thing that surprisingly stood out on The End of Chaos, were the vocals of AK Nut-buster. (OK, if that’s not his name, it oughta be!) Regardless of his name, dude can fucking wail. I kept thinking he sounds like some vocalist I love, which can be a very complimentary thing. He has a style you can’t pin him down to, a rare thing in the industry. At times it sounded a little like Dio, at times Jeff Tate, and at other times it was a little like Dickenson. AK Knutout and the boys from Flotsam and Jetsam can kick ass. Gilbert and Conley grasp the concept of highly distorted, focused, bellicosic need that lies with true metal. Then, while Knutson and the guitar boys provide the spice of this meaty dish, Spencer and Mary lay down a basic rue of hard driving, hardwired metal that keeps The End Of Chaos righted on the perilous sea of Metal!
If I’m pressed, the biggest recommendation I could find for The End Of Chaos is to encourage Flotsam and Jetsam to add some diversity to their general tone. They’ve mastered the “art” of Heavy Metal and it shows in every song, at times giving them an air of similitude in many of their songs. Don’t be afraid to dumb it down; trust in the simplicity of the music and the brotherhood of the musicians and the audience. Branch out and branch down. Then lets swing on the vines as we headbang into unconsciousness.
In conclusion, Flotsam and Jetsam’s The End Of Chaos is a grab-you-by-the-balls and come along with them wherever they’re going to take you endeavor. It’s a gravel gargling, high distortion, speed…no thrash, metal riff and solos album, backed by an incredibly heart-pounding bass and drum hardline. I highly recommend Flotsam and Jetsam‘s The End Of Chaos through AFM Records with a rating of 8.5/10.