2007-09-04
Yep, Overkill are back, praise Satan.
I've known and loved this band since I was about 13, which means back in…1989? Yep, it took me some serious sweat and blood to get all their earlier stuff back then, bought "Feel The Fire" and "Taking Over" in LP and rejoiced every time they released a new album, from 1989's ingenious "Years Of Decay", through 1993 different yet brilliant "I Hear Black", up to 1997 "From The Underground And Bellow". After that? I'm ashamed to say I was a bit disappointed, I didn’t like the album that followed.
I bought each and every one (you can be sure, force of habit), and even though they were not bad, they all felt allright, they weren't the works of genius that the band's classic stuff were. And now this, a new album, two years after "ReliXIV", probably the band's least favorite album for me, and a first with new drummer Ron Lipnicki (ex-Hades).
I have to say the opener, "Devils In The Mist", didn’t drop me to the floor. It's OK, but not great, but from then on? Overkill deliver some of their best material in more than 10 years. The second piece, "What It Takes", is what this band was always about for me; thrashing metal, aggressive, energetic, scary - this is what made their albums so god damn brilliant! I was sure this is a fluke, but "Skull And Bones" is another hit! Blitz throws everything he has into the vocals, and he just crashes everything in sight, some death growls backing vocals and this is easily some of the heaviest stuff the band has ever recorded.
It continues, "Shadow Of A Debut" is a smart, riff-heavy thrasher which actually reminded me of some of the stuff they had in the fantastic "Horrorscope".
Certainly the level of professionalism, playing-wise, doesn’t hurt. While Verni is a monster of a bassist, the band's two guitarists are on-par with the classic due of Gant and Cannavino, well, Linsk is probably a better lead guitarist than those two…newcomer Lipnicki was a great choice to replace Tim Mallare, and the sharp sound displays his capabilities very acutely.
Some of the slower bits sound lesser at the first go, but they grow on you. "Hellish Pride" sounds just like that, I Didn’t care for it at first, but after a few listens it turned out to be a killer track. The next one, "Walk Through Fire", is much easier, a groove number with one kick-ass riff.
Blitz and Verni have been through the grinder, Blitz beat cancer, they have been through more line-up changes than The X-Men, and moved through several Record labels, but these guys came out as winners with this album. And the 15th CD by the band is carefully placed on my shelf, with all the previous 14, and it sure looks good.
Alon Miasnikov
