Old School Album Of The Week For May 10th - 14th

This weeks album is from an old school thrash band from Arizona called Flotsam and Jetsam, the debut album they released in 1986 called "Doomsday For The Deceiver" on Metal Blade Records. I forgot how damn good this album actually is. The band is lead by bass player Jason Newsted who later went on to join Metallica after Cliff Burton's passing. I didn't realize that all the lyrics on this album were wrote by Jason. Why the hell didn't Metallica let Jason contribute more to them. The two guitarists Edward Carlson and Michael Gilbert can sure shred as well. Overall a really good tight band.

The album opens with a real good scream starting with the song "Iron Tears" which is a love song if you can believe it, ya, a thrash love/relationship song, good shit,lol. The song is three minutes of four to the floor all out thrash, great head banging stuff. Other good tracks on side one are "Fade To Black" and "Hammerhead", the song Hammerhead made me laugh, as it is a song about picking up a metal chick. Checkout these lyrics,

"Come on now lady, show me how you rock,
I wanna get to know you.
I'm hot, so give me what you've got,
My turn to go you.
Faster than the speed of light,
Wham bam! I thank you, or...
All night pounding away, with more ways to please me.

[CHORUS]
Love for the taking, she talks with her eyes,
Wants me to give her a ride.
Spellbound she takes me way deep inside,
Hammerhead baby tonight...Hold tight"



At least Flotsam has a sense of humour in some of their lyrics which is something you didn't see in the thrash scene back in the 80's.
Side one closes with the nine minute epic title song "Doomsday For The Deceiver"

Side two opens with the song "Metalshock" another song with a sense of humour. The song being about the end of time, but when people do start to come around they are all metal heads. The chorus goes as such,

"Pounding Metal across the land,
Life-giving magic in his hands,
The power chords raise the dead,
People come alive banging their heads"

Next is the song "She Took An Axe" a song about the Lizzy Borden murders another great all out thrash song. The album closes out with the songs "U.L.S.W." and "Der Fuhrer" all and all a pretty damn good album in the thrash metal scene of the 80's.