American thrash metal pioneers Flotsam and Jetsam are gearing up to unleash their explosive Napalm Records debut album Rats In The Temple on 28th August.
The Arizona legends have been a fixture of the metal scene for the better part of four decades. With modern renaissance records like The End of Chaos (2019) and I Am the Weapon (2024) capturing the glory of their inceptional material, and the Kerrang!-championed classics Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986) and No Place for Disgrace (1988) still raising hell on festival circuits internationally, Flotsam and Jetsam arrive at their Napalm debut on a serious run of form.
Rats In The Temple lunges out across thirteen tracks of ornate guitarmonies, pummelling double bass kicks, hypnotic bass grooves, and frontman Eric A.K. Knutson‘s unmistakably haunting wail. As the temple is besieged by vermin, Flotsam and Jetsam line the walls with grim tales of death, abuse, betrayal, and war.
The album opens strong with the stadium-ready hooks of ‘Harvesting The Hate’ and ‘Damnation’, before delving into thrash virtuosity on ‘Absolution’. The iconic guitar duo of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley paint vividly ghoulish images on tracks like ‘Blame The Knife’ and the title track ‘Rats In The Temple’, then flex their metal muscle on ‘The Ghost Behind My Door’ and ‘First On The Spike’, invoking pure first-wave excellence with a pummelling modern menace. The legendary rhythm duo of drummer Ken Mary and bassist Bill Bodily take centre stage on the anti-war anthem ‘A Taste For War’, their methodical syncopation invoking images of tanks and boots on the ground.
Eric A.K. Knutson said: “This record is a BEAST, truly our best effort to date! Do yourself a favour. Dim the lights, grab a drink, put the headphones on, and crank this up. You will not be sorry you did!”
We’ve always had a soft spot for Flotsam and Jetsam at RAMzine, a band who quietly weathered the lean years of thrash and emerged in the back half of the 2010s with a renewed sense of purpose. Few veteran acts of this vintage are still operating with this much fire in them.
Rats In The Temple is out 28th August via Napalm Records on 2-LP gatefold (in black, splattered and Napalm Mailorder-exclusive white label editions), 1-CD digisleeve and digital.
