FLOTSAM AND JETSAM's vocalist Eric 'AK' Knutson is featured in a new interview with Ken Gallant at DeadRhetoric.com discussing the band's new album, Ugly Noise. An excerpt is available below:

Dead Rhetoric: So what was the motivation behind utilizing Pledge Music to record Ugly Noise?

Eric A.K.: "We haven’t owned anything we created on the past records; not even a piece of it, so we wanted to have all the rights to do with our songs whatever we want, and if you want to do something with them you have to deal with us."

Dead Rhetoric: Former bassist Jason Newsted (NEWSTED, ex-METALLICA) helped out a bit. What did Jason contribute to the band?

Eric A.K.: "Well, Jason comes around town once in a while and he will take us out to dinner and we’ll go jam and just have a good time a couple of nights. So that’s what he did the last time he came into town, he took us out and we just talked about old times and I think he misses us once in a while. He and Mike had recently gotten together and jammed in his living room and ended up writing a couple of songs. We wanted them for the record and he says we could have them."

Dead Rhetoric: So I take it you are all remain good friends with Jason?

Eric A.K.: "Jason’s life and our careers don’t give us a lot of time to spend together, but once every five or six years he comes into town and we’ll get together and jam a few times and have a beer and whatever."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Ugly Noise is the band's eleventh full-length album, their first release on Metal Blade since 2001, and the follow up to their 2010 album, The Cold. The record also heralds the return of original members Michael Gilbert on guitar and Kelly David Smith on drums, who haven't recorded with Flotsam And Jetsam since High in 1997.

Flotsam And Jetsam returned to Metal Blade Records to release Ugly Noise. The lead single/title track is available for streaming below: