ALBUM REVIEW: The End Of Chaos – Flotsam And Jetsam
They say the first meal is ‘with the eye’ when it comes to culinary exploits, the theory that a dish tastes far better if it’s presented in an aesthetically pleasing way to the consumer rather than splashed over the plate like a ladleful of gravy by your secondary school dinner lady. The same can be applied to music to an extent; back when album covers meant far more than they do now, just the sight of a particularly impressive piece of artwork adorning the front could be enough for an individual to part with their cash, regardless of whether they’ve heard the band previously. This has, of course, weakened in influence as the digital age has grown, but in the case of The End Of Chaos, the thirteenth album by seminal thrash outfit FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, it’s a potential blessing in disguise given the CGI atrocity that adorns the cover of the record. That said, this is a band who haven’t made their name on image alone and will be looking to prove they still have plenty of legs when the album arrives later this month via AFM Records.
Given the stage in their career, it’s natural that FLOTSAM AND JETSAM are not going to play at such a breakneck speed as they might have done earlier on, but taking things down a notch or two certainly has its benefits. There’s a wonderful four song curve slap bang in the middle of The End Of Chaos that demonstrates an ability to still keep up with the best despite their twilight years drawing ever closer.
It starts with Slowly Insane, which is the perfect example of how to slow the pace of thrash metal but still pack a huge punch and swiftly moves into Architects Of Hate that adopts a more sinister tonal shift and brings to mind KREATOR, who have transitioned their own thrash wonderfully as they’ve progressed in age. Demolition Man is genuinely about someone who knocks buildings to the ground, providing an amusing and silly interlude to a riff-raging composition and Unknown Surprise rounds the sequence off with an added layer of groove that will make thrash die-hards wonder where that particular style went when MACHINE HEAD wrote Catharsis.
This run of tracks also doubles as an anchor that stops The End Of Chaos from sinking below the depths that their mascot Flotzilla is rising from on the front cover. Despite the bombastic opening, there’s too little that we haven’t heard before: Prisoner Of Time and Recover, although showcasing immensely catchy choruses, could easily just be IRON MAIDEN on steroids; the same applies to Control but with JUDAS PRIEST and Prepare For Chaos, rather ironically given the band’s history, strays a bit too far into METALLICA territory. At the other end, Snake Eye and Good Or Bad are a dip in overall quality, devoid of star power and too generic whilst Survive and closing track The End, although solid enough, are incredibly weak on a lyrical front; the latter, especially, is cheesier than Wallace and Gromit’s pantry.
Nevertheless, The End of Chaos is not inherently a bad album, it poses no threat to FLOTSAM AND JETSAM’s legacy and is solid enough to appease their long-term fans. You just can’t help but feel they’re not firing on all cylinders and, given their impressive catalogue prior to The End of Chaos, they could do a lot better.
Rating: 6/10
The End Of Chaos is set for release January 18th via AFM Records.
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