My God

Never has there been an album title that described my feelings towards the album as good as Flotsam And Jetsam's 'My God'. That phrase was pretty much the first thing I thought when I heard it! Flotsam And Jetsam has made some decent records in the past (with 'No Place For Disgrace' and 'Drift' being my favorites), but what the band does on 'My God' is pretty much beyond what I could ever believe from the guys.

'High' and 'Unnatural Selection' in my opinion showed a band, which was still trying to hang on to what they did in the past, but lacked the conviction the band needed to have the right to survive. Flotsam And Jetsam seemed to be releasing that last bit of energy they still had inside them and even the addition of a new guitarist (Mark T. Simpson) and a new drummer (Craig Neilson) on 'Unnatural Selection' didn't seem to help to revive the band.

But that's all in the past now! 'My God' is an unbelievably fresh, heavy and modern effort which gives Flotsam And Jetsam the right to survive in the 21st century. Instead of trying to hang on to their Thrash/Speed Metal roots rather forced, there are plenty of more modern songs to give this album a powerful edge which is so hard to resist.

Don't expect Flotsam And Jetsam to have gone Nu-Metal with this album or anything! Everything but that. But there are just really heavy, slightly more rhythmical tracks like 'Keep Breathing' and the atmospherically constructed 'Nothing To Say', one of my personal favorites, which still contain the great elements of the best Flotsam And Jetsam songs: the great guitar riffs, cutting through everything, the stunning guitar solos and on top of that Eric A.K.'s flawless vocals, he just tries a slightly more rhythmical approach every now and then (just check out the verses to 'Nothing To Say'). Modern in the sense of, let's say, Nevermore and maybe Shadows Fall, but then better.

There are still plenty of Thrash/Speed Metal songs to keep the old school Flotsam-fan satisfied. Opener 'Dig Me Up To Bury Me' is a true kick in the face in that way. Lots of breathtaking guitar solos, fast rhythms, heavy guitar riffs...it's still undeniably Flotsam And Jetsam, it just sounds a lot more spontaneous than on the previous records. The same goes for 'Camera Eye'. "Is it 1988 again?" No, it's 2001, but the band just comes up with these amazingly thrashing riffs and the listener can't help but bang his head. Gotta love that amazing drumming by Craig Neilson! The title track is also a great Thrash song like it's supposed to sound, just with a more catchy chorus than what you might be used to. Can't help but love it.

Another stand-out track is the song 'Trash' (yes, that's the right spelling, there's no "h" forgotten). I'm sure Metal purists will really hate this song (as they might hate most of the album), but to me, it's a great, atmospheric track with Eric A.K. showing off what an magnificently talented singer he is. Nicely structured as well. Probably one of the best Flotsam And Jetsam songs ever written. The album also contains a hidden track after the beautiful closing instrumental 'I.A.M.H.', it's an acoustic version of 'Trash'. A lot of people hate it. I love it. It's almost as good as the original!

My final compliment goes out to the great lyrics. From what I understood, the band's manager Eric Braverman has vanished from the scene and Eric A.K. started writing his own lyrics again and to be honest, he should have done that earlier, it's a breath of fresh air that positively influenced the album.

All together, this makes 'My God' my personal favorite Flotsam And Jetsam album. It will be hard for the band to ever equal this album, but they have made a product they should be really, really proud of. If you like Metal, but would like to step outside of the prefabricated circle just a little bit, try this one out. I don't think you're going to regret it.