Doomsday for the Deceiver

Sounds like: Metal Church style thrashy heavy metal

Flotsam and Jetsam are not a very well known band. They are most famous for being the starting band for bassist Jason Newsted, who later went to $Metallica$. This is definitely a much better band than Selloutica. They combined excellent musicianship with vocals that soar into a high pitched falsetto as well. Eric A.K. can certainly sing. He doesn't just grunt along with the music, or shout along. He actually changes notes and in the case of some songs really makes the song memorable, especially in Flotzilla, oh wait that's the instrumental track. He has a great way of conveying power in his voice while not resorting to grunts or even lower range vocals. He really shows it in She Took an Axe when he says "Lizzy Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks"

The band plays at a quick pace, but never at a truly breakneck speed. One of the things I really like about this album is that the bass is really audible unlike many bands that drown the bass out with dual guitars taking the lead, Slayer comes to mind. It's easy to see why Newsted was stolen by you know who. His bass work on this album is stellar, especially on tracks like Metalshock. The rest of the band is excellent as well but doesn't stand out as much as Newsted does.

Stand out tracks on this album include Hammerhead, She Took an Axe and Flotzilla. The best track on this album is the over 9 minute title track. It starts of with a nice melodic beginning before the band really turns the volume up to 11 and starts speeding up. A great song from start to finish that never makes you stop to think "This is definitely a long song." Overall this is a great album that could have been a 5 if it just had another track at the caliber of the title track. An absolute must have for fans of Metal Church and a great album for anyone else.