Flotsam and Jetsam are finally heading to Australia for the first time ever this September and October, teaming up with Mortal Sin for a co-headline tour that reads like a direct transmission from thrash metal’s most gloriously violent era.
There’s something beautifully excessive about this lineup. Two bands forged in the genre’s formative years, both still operating with the same speed, aggression and refusal to mellow out decades later. Flotsam and Jetsam arrive carrying over forty years of thrash history behind them, a catalogue stretching from the untouchable chaos of Doomsday for the Deceiver through to modern-era releases that have quietly reaffirmed the Arizona veterans as one of the genre’s most consistently underrated forces.
That resurgence looks set to continue with the arrival of new album Rats In The Temple, due August 28 via Napalm Records. Frontman Eric “A.K.” Knutson describing it as “our best effort to date” doesn’t even feel like standard promo hyperbole anymore. Flotsam’s modern records have genuinely carried the urgency of a band still trying to outplay themselves.
Then there’s Mortal Sin, whose importance to Australian heavy music can’t really be overstated. Long before metal became globally interconnected through streaming algorithms and festival branding, Mortal Sin were dragging Australian thrash into international conversations through sheer force and determination. Their recent return to live stages, including appearances at European institutions like Keep It True Festival and Alcatraz Metal Festival, has only reinforced how enduring that legacy remains.
Crucially, this doesn’t feel like a nostalgia package lazily dusted off for ageing metalheads. Both bands still sound hungry. Still dangerous. Still obsessed with volume and velocity in ways that feel refreshingly disconnected from trend cycles or algorithmic metalcore polish.
Support comes from Hidden Intent and Livewire, giving the entire tour the atmosphere of a full-scale thrash summit rather than a simple co-headline run. The result should be less “heritage metal event” and more sweaty collective concussion delivered at maximum BPM.
TOUR DATES
Wednesday, Sept 30: Crowbar, Brisbane
Thursday, Oct 1: Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
Friday, Oct 2 : Max Watt’s, Melbourne
Saturday, Oct 3: Crowbar, Sydney
Tickets and info available at: churchesofsteel.com
