A triumph from the thrash stalwarts
Here’s a fact for you. Did you know that Overkill hold the record for being the first thrash band to release ten albums? A testament to their prolific and hardworking ethic that has seen the band safely through line-up changes, illness and twenty years of musical fads. But that was over seven years ago. Overkill are now onto album number fifteen, and by the sound of it the thrash juggernaut, even with threats of cancer and a stroke to vocalist Bobby Ellsworth, has no intention of slowing down.
I’ve followed Overkill since watching the amazing ‘Hello From The Gutter’ on late night ITV, sticking with the band through thick and thin. One can’t deny that the band peaked during ‘The Years Of Decay’ and ‘Horrorscope’ both in inventiveness and commercial impact. But the subsequent years has seen some great Overkill offerings. ‘I Hear Black’ is a wonderful and underrated departure from the band’s signature sound. ‘The Killing Kind,’ although lacking in the production department, contains some great tunes. ‘From the Underground and Below’ still sounds fresh a decade on, and ‘Bloodletting’ is, well…mental. For those fans who adored Overkill in those early days, and whose interest in thrash has been reawakened with the gathering momentum of the current thrash movement, it’s time to jump back onto the Overkill speeding train because Immortalis is one of their best albums to date.
Their previous works, ‘Killbox 13’ and ‘ReliXIV’ were widely praised and delivered handsomely to the faithful. Immortalis sees a departure to the raw production of ‘ReliXIV’ and an improvement on the song-writing of ‘Killbox 13’. It’s as if the line-up of Ellsworth, Linsk, Tailer and D.D Verni has finally clicked into place. The riffs are angrier, the attitude is full of spit and bile and the guitar trade offs are superb. Ellsworth is in fine form shouting and screaming with his unique and instantly recognisable voice all over such tracks as ‘Devils In The Mist’ and ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’. He is joined in a fantastic duet (duet sounds a little to ‘nice,’ but that’s what it is) with Lamb Of God’s Randall Blythe on the Spine Shuddering ‘Skull And Bones’. It’s one of the highlights on the disc along with the groove ridden ‘What It Takes’ and the punchy anthem ‘Hellish Pride’.
It must be difficult for ANY band, let alone a thrash band, to creatively express themselves fifteen times, which makes Immortalis even more remarkable (How angry do you have to be?). Just when the thrash movement is going through a revival Overkill throw their hat into the ring with a resounding ‘beat that’. It may not be as fast as some thrash fans would like, but thrash has never been all about out-right speed. Overkill has always excelled in the groove and almost Sabbath-esque riffs, which give a perfect compliment against their 1000mph blasters. Just put ‘Overkill V’ against ‘Hell Is’ and it’s similar to putting ‘Bare Bones’ against ‘Horrorscope’.
Ellsworth and Verni have remained the band’s core song-writers so their music has rarely strayed from the overkill blueprint. But Overkill has been through a lot over the years, especially in the member department, which has caused their style to change, albeit in a small way. This makes comparisons to their early works somewhat redundant. You don’t have an electric track such as ‘Elimination’ or a huge leviathan in the guise of ‘Skullkrusher,’ but you do have more grooves, more foot tapping moments and a better production. Immortalis wont eclipse their classic material, but it’s one of their best post ‘Horrorscope’. With Exodus, Evile, Onslaught and Savage Messiah all delivering great thrash albums, the future’s bright, the future’s thrash.
*One last note about the packaging. The special edition version gives you a DVD with a live Overkill set from Wacken. If that’s not value for money then I don’t know what is.