Arizona thrash metal veterans FLOTSAM AND JETSAM have announced their new album ‚Rats In The Temple‘, set for release on August 28, 2026 via Napalm Records. The 13-track record promises a relentless sonic assault rooted in the band’s four-decade legacy of precision thrash metal.Arizona thrash metal institution FLOTSAM AND JETSAM has announced ‚Rats In The Temple‘, their forthcoming full-length record scheduled for release on August 28, 2026 through Napalm Records. The album marks the band’s debut on the Austrian label and arrives as the follow-up to 2024’s ‚I Am the Weapon‘.
Spanning 13 tracks, ‚Rats In The Temple‘ showcases the full breadth of the quintet’s instrumental command. The record opens with stadium-ready hooks and dizzying precision on ‚Harvesting The Hate‘ and ‚Damnation‘, before diving into virtuosic thrash territory on ‚Absolution‘. The legendary guitar pairing of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley paints vivid, ominous sonic landscapes throughout ‚Blame The Knife‘ and the title track, while ‚The Ghost Behind My Door‘ and ‚First On The Spike‘ demonstrate the duo’s instrumental finesse — a fusion of first-wave thrash essence and modern hammering intensity.
At the rhythmic core, drummer Ken Mary and bassist Bill Bodily anchor the anti-war anthem ‚A Taste For War‘ with syncopated precision, conjuring imagery of marching boots and rolling tanks. Vocalist Eric A.K. Knutson’s unmistakable and commanding delivery threads through the record’s themes of death, abuse, betrayal, and war.
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM have remained a constant force since their classic debuts ‚Doomsday For The Deceiver‘ (1986) and ‚No Place For Disgrace‘ (1988). With ‚Rats In The Temple‘, the band delivers what may be their most ambitious and cohesive statement in decades, opening doors to numerous metal-infused sonic chambers across its full runtime.
Photo: Shane Eckart