Weaponising Music With KEN MARY From FLOTSAM & JETSAM

Interview by Kris Peters
When it comes to iconic metal bands, they don't come much better
than Flotsam & Jetsam.
Since pummelling their way onto the scene with their crushing debut
album Doomsday For The Deceiver almost 40 years ago, Flotsam &
Jetsam have ridden the wave that is thrash metal almost too
faithfully, preferring to remain loyal to the calling despite the
perceived conforming of other bands from their era.
It is a stance that may have possibly cost the band greater
worldwide success, but in sticking to their musical beliefs and
morals has ensured Flotsam & Jetsam have survived with not only
their integrity intact but also the love and respect of their
fans.
With the band on the cusp of releasing their 15th studio album, I
Am The Weapon, on September 13, HEAVY spent some time with drummer
Ken Mary to take a look inside the inner sanctum that is Flotsam
& Jetsam.
"It's a new killer album," he said proudly. "I feel like we've done
a great job on the last two albums, and I think this third one is…
I don't wanna say anything, but it might be the best one yet. We'll
find out."
We ask Ken if the band feels any pressure going into a new album
release with the burden of a massive fan-based expectation each
time.
"Honestly, we did," he nodded. "We feel the pressure pretty much on
every record. I feel like the last four albums have been kind of a
renaissance for Flotsam & Jetsam, and it's kind of like a new
era, if you wanna say that. Like a new era for the band. And every
time there's a new album, we're always wondering if we can top the
last one (laughs). When we finished The End Of Chaos, we thought
wow, how are we ever gonna top this album? Then we came out with
Blood In The Water, and I feel like we topped Chaos with that. When
we finished Blood In The Water, we were like oh my gosh, how are we
gonna top this record? This time we definitely felt the pressure.
We felt things like do we have enough gas in the tank to make
something that will at least equal that? So we just started
writing, and we wrote a ton of songs, and then we started
eliminating songs and finishing songs and by the time we were done
we were like, yeah, I think we can at least equal it, and hopefully
we topped it. I've had some people that have heard it - and I'm
talking about all the records, including the first two albums - say
to me that this is the best Flotsam album yet. Ever. That's pretty
good when you hear that. It's so tough to compete with nostalgia.
When somebody talks about the first few albums that they grew up
with, it's really hard to beat that, and for somebody to say that
and be sincere… that's quite a compliment."
In the full interview, Ken talks about the musical side of I Am The
Weapon, the opening track A New Kind Of Hero and experimenting with
the album intro, the band's writing process and their conscious
effort to retain their thrash DNA in new music, surviving 40 years
as a band, how he is settling into Flotsam & Jetsam, coming
into an established band and keeping your own musical identity,
touring plans and more.

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