Flotsam And Jetsam
Live In Japan
Crash Music
7.5/10
Flotsam And Jetsam will always be best known as being the band from which Jason Newsted graduated from in joining Metallica. That said, the Arizona-based group still managed to kick out an impressive run of albums in the late eighties and early nineties, carving out a niche for creating intense metal with an increasingly progressive twist emerging as their career progressed. This DVD puts the spotlight on the band’s most current incarnation as the group runs through a 40-some minute set of live cuts before a fairly enthusiastic Kawasaki, Japan crowd. Cinematography here is decent but one major flaw is the noticeable unfamiliarity with Flotsam’s material held by a lighting engineer that offers random, anti-dramatic sequences throughout this almost hour long film.
Erik A.K.’s voice has held up marvelously over the years and the singer demonstrates that he continues to possess the ability to hit dead-on, piercing high metal screams. Although the band doesn’t give the impression of being extremely warmed up during the first couple of tracks, they appear to be much more comfortable as “The Master Sleeps” kicks in. Unfortunately, “No Place For Disgrace” becomes a sacrificial lamb as a result, with the band earning a 7 out of 10 in matching the stunning intensity of the original. By the time Flots tears into “Hard On You”, however, the entire band is on target as well. Interestingly enough, this short set includes very little of the band’s most recent material, which has been largely met with little response from fans. Being that this live document captures one of the only Flotsam performances of 2005, common sense would dictate a wider variety and certainly, the inclusion of more material. As a bonus, fans also receive the group’s latest video, “Straight To Hell”, a well-shot clip of one of the more impressive offerings from the band’s latest disc, “Dreams Of Death.”
As exciting as it is to finally have the convenience of watching the revered thrashers rip through classic cuts such as “Hammerhead” and “Doomsday For The Deceiver”, most fans will expect more for their hard-earned dollars than what is offered here. Consequently, Live In Japan will only be of interest to the most passionate Flotsam And Jetsam fans, those seeking to get a hold of absolutely anything and everything the band has to offer. More discriminating metalheads will point to recent releases by Testament and Megadeth as examples of metal DVD done properly, but there’s still enough that’s interesting about this effort to at least grant it an once-over.
ERIN FOX © 2005 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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