Smith had this to say about his replacement, "In my opinion, Jason in one of only a couple of men on my short list for the job. Jason's an amazing all around drummer, a true professional, good friend, and solid stand up guy. I was humbled to hear that after first meeting Jason in 1988 in Boston that I had inspired him as a drummer."

New recruit Jason Bitter adds, "I have been a F&J fan for decades, following the band around the East Coast in the '80s and '90s. I've been lucky enough to be in the background of the F&J camp as a fan, supporter, and gear leader to my dear friend, Kelly David Smith.

"I am hard at work relearning all the classic Flotz material and can't wait to record and tour with the band in 2015. This will become my focus after the completion of the 2015 US Shadows Fall hiatus tour, which will happen Spring/Summer 2015. As they say� 'Flotz 'til death!' See you in Europe, in April".

The new lineup is preparing to begin recording their new album which they expect to release in April. Bass player Michael Spencer offered these details about the new effort, "The band already has over 20 songs in the works, so there's certainly no shortage of material to pick from.

"Conley, along with guitarist Michael Gilbert, have been engineering pre-production tracks for the album at their respective studios that include a few songs written during the No Place For Disgrace era of the band. There's a great, old school thrash vibe going on with the direction of the songs and what originally influenced the band, mixed with a little of what we like about today's sound, in metal.