Flotsam and Jetsam 'Rats In The Temple': Video, Album Details & Tracklist

Flotsam and Jetsam have opened the gate on Rats In The Temple, and they are not treating the first single like a warm-up lap.

The Arizona thrash veterans released the title track and official video from the album, which arrives August 28 through Napalm Records. It is the band's first album for Napalm and the follow-up to 2024's I Am the Weapon, continuing the late-career run that has kept Flotsam from becoming a nostalgia-only name.

That matters with this band. Flotsam and Jetsam have the history, but the stronger story is how much of their current identity is still built around motion. The End of Chaos in 2019 and Blood in the Water in 2021 helped reset expectations around the modern version of the group. I Am the Weapon kept that run alive. Now Rats In The Temple is being positioned as another step forward.

Why The First Single Matters

The title track comes loaded with the pieces longtime Flotsam listeners expect: technical riffing, sharp lead work from Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, Ken Mary's drum attack, and Eric A.K. Knutson's voice still cutting through the mix with that high, haunted edge that separates Flotsam from the more bark-forward end of thrash.

Knutson said the band is "super excited" to release the first single and called "Rats In The Temple" a fitting title track. He also described it as "possibly one of the most technically challenging songs FLOTSAM has ever recorded," adding that the band is looking forward to delivering it live.

That is the right quote to pay attention to. A veteran band calling a new song technically demanding can be empty promo language, but Flotsam and Jetsam are not a band that built its reputation on simple blunt force. Their best work has always lived in the tension between thrash speed and power-metal reach. When they get that balance right, the songs have more lift than the average pit-starter.

The new video keeps the focus where it should be: performance, atmosphere, and the song's forward motion. No overcomplicated concept trying to explain the track back to the listener. Just the band pushing into a new album cycle with enough precision to make the title-track choice feel deliberate.

Rats In The Temple Album Details

Rats In The Temple is due August 28 through Napalm Records. The PR frames the record as a 13-track run through the band's different chambers: thrash precision, darker melody, anti-war weight, and the twin-guitar language that has been part of Flotsam's DNA since the beginning.

That range is the thing to watch. The press material points to "Harvesting the Hate" and "Damnation" as strong openers, "Absolution" as a thrash-virtuosity moment, "A Taste for War" as an anti-war cut built around Ken Mary and bassist Bill Bodily, and "Anthem for the Broken" as one of the album's more direct heavy swings.

For a band with this much road behind it, sequencing matters. A 13-song veteran thrash record can either justify its length or expose it. Flotsam and Jetsam have earned the benefit of attention because their last several records did not sound like a band coasting on a logo. If Rats In The Temple keeps the technical side tied to actual songs, this could be one of the late-summer thrash records worth circling.

Tracklist

1. "Harvesting the Hate"
2. "Damnation"
3. "Absolution"
4. "Blame the Knife"
5. "Rats in the Temple"
6. "The Ghost Behind my Door"
7. "First on the Spike"
8. "The Edge of Nowhere"
9. "Last Rites"
10. "A Taste for War"
11. "Her Blood your Pain"
12. "Anthem for the Broken"
13. "Not Going Down that Way"

Formats And 2026 Dates

The album will be available as a 2-LP gatefold in multiple variants, including white label, splattered vinyl, solid red and black editions, along with a CD digisleeve and digital release. The PR specifically highlights the splattered vinyl edition with an LP-sized booklet as a Napalm mailorder exclusive.

Pre-orders are live through the album's official campaign, and readers who prefer the easy route can watch for Flotsam and Jetsam Rats In The Temple listings on Amazon as release options roll out.

Flotsam and Jetsam also have 2026 live dates across Europe and Australia, starting May 28 at Iron Fest in Schönenberg, Germany. The run includes club dates in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, festival appearances at Næstved Metal Fest, Metal Hammer Paradise and Eindhoven Metal Meeting, plus Australian stops in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in late September and early October.

The bigger picture is simple: old thrash bands do not get points for existing. They get points for still writing like the next record has to prove something. Flotsam and Jetsam are leading this one with a title track built around technical pressure, a full album arriving in August, and enough recent momentum to make the claim believable.

For more thrash coverage, start with Metal Mantra's guide to the best thrash metal albums of all time and our recent coverage of Exodus' "Promise You This" video.