OVERKILL |
| Tastes like metal,
smells like Overkill? Better believe it! In fact this is an album so heavy and so involved in intensity, you’d be advised to keep a glass of water nearby when listening or prepare yourself to suffer and choke on it by the end of song #5! Doing what they do best, Bobby “Blitz” and the boys once again outlast the competition and put forth another brutal slab of metal rage that parallels if not exceeding their best moments of the past. With ‘97’s out of nowhere mega-hit “From the Underground Below” one would think they’d have a tough time outdoing themselves but low and behold with the latest entry into the metal circle, they’ve met the challenge most convincingly. The first noticeable quality of “Necroshine” is the album cover illustration, which jumps straight out at you and chomps at your eyelids in disturbing 3-D effect. Another distinction between this disc and the latter is its buried knee-deep in powerful guitar layers giving it a raw quality that gives it that extra aggressive edge, whereas the last one concentrated more on a direct approach and offered slightly more groove. “Necroshine” will not be as easily listenable as in the past because the song structures vary often and break off into several different directions before finally giving way to the next tracks. Heavy would be a good place to start on this album but not nearly physical enough to capture the sheer intensity once again realized by one of the world’s state of the art metal performers. Even metal is shortsighted as a description here as elements of grind-core, thrash, speed, and even death all throw their chips in the pot to create something much bigger than what many others are managing to produce. The title track is as good a place to start as any as it begins hauntingly enough, in effect teasing the listener into complacency before blowing their ears off two minutes in! Upon recovery, the next three, “My December,” “Let Us Prey,” and “80 Cycles” will do little to offer solace, all borrowing from a doom-driven style churning up foreboding chants in and around the chorus and showing off the technical prowess of the entire band. “Revelation” will be a favorite of fans past as it kicks things into high gear, not much unlike “Genocya” from the last album, this one packs an equally intense punch and will be a hit at hard radio—guaranteed. “Forked Tongue Kiss” again nods toward the past both in style and speed, and again features painful moaning in the background… but this one really jams and is liable to be a fave in the pit. No correction, “I am Fear” will send ‘em into a frenzy! The anthemic “Black Line” carries forth much like “Bastard Nation” a few albums ago, as the chorus reads: “We all walk in our own black line, we all walk in time / we all walk in the black sunshine, we don’t know who we are.” And after the second chorus, it promptly rips into a ferocious lead break with Mallare behind the kit working overtime! It would seem after all these years this band just keeps getting stronger. It’s amazing how they’ve yet to run out of ideas or lose their grip on creating heavy music to accommodate their legions of fans out there. No band in existence today deserves more respect than Overkill as they continue to maim, kill, and destroy the competition mercilessly and without regard for what the current mandate dictates. Released in the US on CMC International Records Website : http://www.cmcinternational.com Review by Vinnie Apicella. |
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"Killbox 13" Overkill |
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Overkill's remained a model of consistency throughout their 20 year run as one of Metal's loudest voices. One of the few to have survived the various obstacles thrown in their way by way of trends and lackluster peer performance, fans come to know the band will deliver time and again regardless of who's in the band or what the state of the art happens to be at the moment. True, there've been those moments when the band itself lagged in the creativity department, throwing out a handful of absentee ballots on the so significant depth chart that true Metal longs for, yet such makes an album as "Killbox 13" all the more inviting once all the parts are in place. From the start, this is not another Overkill also-ran that peaks early and crawls the rest of the way home. Similar to recent highlights as "Killing Kind" or "From The Underground And Below," the album is an enthusiastic display of proud playing with nothing to lose and everything to prove. The Linsk / Tailor guitar tandem furnishes some of the bands heaviest and catchiest ax work in a long stretch, giving the songs extra motion from start to finish, akin to an epic album like "The Years Of Decay" with its unstoppable and indeterminate instrumental routes and Thrash fits. And from the opening moments of their ultra-aggressive "Devil By The Tail," "Damned," and classic-era styling of "No Lights," the character is pure evil and an exercise in ferocity. "The One" and "Crystal Clear" double up the riff and lend the off/on grind effect they've succeeded to install in newer material; not the greatest, but not as weak as maybe the middle run of "I Hear Black." "The Sound Of Dying" and "Until I Die" are an antithetical yet thematically tied display of Overkill as the lurking beast, quick to attack its prey at the first opening. "Struck Down" is a quick indication of the band's continued crushability featuring a full-on Thrash attack that recalls the glory years highlighted by more in-step dual guitar runs and Mallare's double-time drumming. The thunderous "Unholy" shows little sign of let up near the end, featuring an "I Hate" / "Bastard Nation" feel that elbows its way among their most ambitious works to date, before ending the record much like it began with "I Rise," leaving a bullet-riddled corpse where the listener once sat. D.D. and Blitz made the right move grabbing the in-demand Colin Richardson to manhandle the production pods this go round, pushing every ounce of anger and raw energy through the channels to make for a fierce, fast, and fresh sound distinguishable from previous outings. Overkill's "Killbox 13"
easily ranks among the top three or four contenders of their always
resurgent and respectable career. Released by Spitfire
Records. Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
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Bloodletting Overkill |
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After all this time-ten albums and countless years of "wrecking your neck" what more needs be said about this band… what more can be said that hasn't already? Since day one, amidst numerous lineup changes, musical diversions and an outlet that's never been a welcoming committee in the first place, none can boast more consistency than Blitz and crew. "Bloodletting" is their latest slab of metallic fury and from the opening moments of "Thunderhead" being thrust upon you, "breaking you into fragments," true to their intent, another crushing example of why Overkill still exists. Always a notch louder than the rest, Overkill's never been about standing still and watching the world go by… no matter what, where or when you can be rest assured they'll be there waiting to inflict their unique brand of punishment-"Bleed Me," second cut, featuring trademark guts and groove they've long established upon embarking on the more aggressive notions of nineties' metal, still as ferocious as ever! Mallare's drumming is again machine-like in the background, first brought about a number of albums of ago-heard any "black" lately? And with fists of fury the added dimension that they've developed has really kept 'em going at the breakneck pace many of todays up and comers would do well to learn from! And then here's this new guitar guy named Linsk; thought enough of to stand-alone and consequently make Overkill into the fearsome foursome they once were and the sound suffers not one bit! In fact, while I'll stop short of saying this record beats this one or that one, it's very comparable to their "Necroshine" disc from a couple years back-only more driven! Probably the only difference between the first four cuts can only be culled from the brief space that separates them from each other-it's that fast, that furious. "Death Comes Out to Play" will be one for the history books once the smoke clears-trademark chorus, brutally heavy. One problem I had personally with "Necroshine" was that they seemed to try to map out what they were going to do beforehand and some of the songs came out rather directionless and weak… it became old really quickly. In spite of the similarities between the two here, the songs take an elemental turn often enough where predictability's pushed off to the side… "Let it Burn's" got that "Bold Faced Pagan Stomp" feel from "The Killing Kind" record during the chorus but this one's definitely got more electricity running through it-and so whatever blood may have been let in the recording process has most certainly been replaced by the time it reaches your ears! "Left Hand Man" brings about the first real momentary break at its onset, similar to a "Soulitude" or dare I say, "Promises," before launching into a massive double-bass tirade that catapults it up among the album's most severe, yet definable… and building upon that thought, we arrive at the equally transient origins of "Blown Away" which in much the same way builds steadily into one of the record's more monumental moments. And just when you've spent your last few seconds of relaxation collecting those serene thoughts from the heady opus from before, they slam you with the heaviest track on the album, "My Name is Pain," a vintage slice of prime 'Kill that embodies those thrash-fits that once and again epitomizes what this band is still all about! Still razor sharp, still dangerous and still… Overkill in the year 2000, willing to tear it open and let the blood flow! Released by Metal-Is Records
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