Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Flotsam And Jetsam, Iconic, Grand, Kamelot, & Issa

Index

When looking into today's most elite thrash artists, Flotsam And Jetsam' has to be in the discussion. The band has been releasing absolute thrash goodness for quite awhile now and have once again brought the goods with "Rats In The Temple'. The album goes for the throat early and never lets go. The music is heavy and has that familiar frenzied tempo that we have all come to know and love with this band. Performances by each member are once again top notch. It has been shaping up to be a very good year for the thrash genre with some artists still on the release horizon. Flotsam And Jetsam will definitely be out there as one of the better releases of the year by many different sources. If you have been listening to the recent albums by the band, this is similar. The band sounds comfortable with where they are and the music is really benefitting from it. Excellent!

Release Date: August 28, 2026

Second release by the supergroup and this one is excellent. Building off of 'Second Skin' and maybe going even heavier is 'II'. I think a lot of fans feel that Iconic has some similarities to Whitesnake due to their bluesy hard rock approach and I would tend to agree. Bluesy or not, there is some serious flash to this album. Performances are really good and the guitar solos on some of these tunes are just nuts. If you love solos, you are going to find a lot to like in that department. The songs sound good first playthrough and I felt the music sounded even better the more I went back to it. It's a heavy rock album with some melody infused into it as fans would expect. I think it's a fairly uniform listen and songs are well constructed. There is a definite market for a band like Iconic. These guys are veterans and you can tell just by listening to the record. Solid stuff!

Release Date: July 31, 2026

New album and I believe the band's third to date. Grand has a style that is very melodic and in the spirit of the 80's. I have really liked this band and their output to this point. This new album could be my favorite of the three. They are all fairly similar in sound and style, but the songs on this one are particularly strong. I like every song start to finish. I like the nostalgia on the album, specifically the title track. References to VHS and some of the top 80's actors. It doesn't get much more nostalgic than that to me. I love the melodic nature of a lot of these tunes, but the band does add some punch here and there and some great sounding solos. I like a lot of the Frontiers roster of bands and this group has been climbing into my top 5 with each record. If you miss the upbeat sounds of the 80's, look no further than Grand to satisfy that need. One of my current favorite albums!

Release Date: August 21, 2026

Kamelot have just released a real banger of an album. This is such a confident sounding album to me. The band have become one of the best of this genre and 'Dark Asylum' just adds to the reasons why. Heavy, but at the same time very melodic. The band has always been able to mix those two elements together with fantastic results. I feel this is one of the band's stronger albums. Maybe the best of the Tommy Karevik era. The guest list on the album is also impressive. The band brought in quite a few vocalists as well as some other musicians to add their touch to the music. 'Dark Asylum' has also grown stronger with each listen. I don't consider it a grower as I liked it from the initial listen, but the music is strong and each listen makes it more addictive. If you like deep atmosphere and a symphonic foundation, you are going to love this record!

Release Date: August 28, 2026

As we have been following Issa for a bit now, one thing comes to mind. Consistency. The last few albums have been similar in sound and songs have been very easy to get into. Issa's music is fairly infectious and very melodic. There are definite nods to the 80's here and vocally she is very solid. I have been picking up her albums without hesitation due to the consistency. You pretty much know what you are going to get and that it will be a top notch record that you can go back to time and time again. While I dig the album as a whole, some of these songs really stood out to me for various reasons. 'Sea Of Desire' is one such song. I absolutely love the depth and the rich tones. A fairly emotional sounding song and one of my favorites from the record. There is good punch on some of the songs and the album as a whole is very good. Once again Issa delivers!

Release Date: August 28, 2026