Long running New Jersey thrash metal masters OVERKILL are back in 2012 with this year’s first truly epic release entitled The Electric Age and let this reviewer say that these dudes are like a fine wine. They just simply get better with age. This album assaulted my head so hard I just might have to get it examined. When you listen to as much damn metal in the underground as I do over the years, you tend to start to take some things for granted. Overkill is one of those bands I have always loved… but tend to forget about for some reason. Not enough exposure, I dunno… but they have a reputation for being one of the hardest working metal units around. Tour non-stop. This is album number sixteen. How many years have these cats been around? It seems like forever. Yet, they aren’t that big commercial monster, because they did not go the sellout route to move records. They weren’t ever truly looking to become MTV sweethearts, you know what I mean? I have always respected that about this band. You know they are always going to give their loyal fans what they are asking for: 1000% thrash fucking metal. Nothing else. Diehard fans like me respect that sort of thing, believe it or not.
From the start of track one’s energetic “Come and Get It” to track three’s molten-hot “Wish You Were Dead”, to my personal favorite, track six’s “Drop The Hammer Down”, which is an instant classic, it’s clear that Overkill is sending a message to the Big Four: “Hey, remember us?” They spared no expense on the album’s production and the guitar attack of Dave Linsk and Derek “The Skull” Tailer is world class. The lead soloing on the latter track from Linsk is some of the best playing you will here in thrash today. Legendary vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth sounds the best he has ever sounded. What else can I say about a man that embodies ‘the attitude of thrash’ better than any other sonofabitch standing. Blitz sounds like he electrified his vocal chords with a set of live wires before going into the studio to record… just to sound more goddamn electric.
D.D. Verni on bass and Ron Lipnicki on drums are locked in so tight on holding down the crushing rhythm-section that it’s rather frightening. Seriously, these cats aren’t playing around here, breaking off a psycho-to-the-bone musical execution that you would hear from only Suicidal Tendencies, Pantera or Slayer in their heyday. If you were not a fan of this band before you heard The Electric Age, I can guarantee that you will be for life afterward. I fully expect to see this bad boy at the top of all the critics “Best album” lists by the end of the year.
“Say three cheers for the beaten down”… and trust me, like Blitz growls out that statement in his trademark defiance, the band around him sounds just as angry. As if some kind of beast possessed that turns its mouth of razor sharp teeth on its victim in glee, Overkill clamps their musical brutality down onto the heavy listener… and there is no letting up. This album is clearly a defining moment in the history of one of the most underrated American metal acts ever.
ROCKET REVIEW:
[starreview tpl=16]
OVERKILL – “The Electric Age” (CD)
(Nuclear Blast Records/2012)
1. Come and Get It
2. Electric Rattlesnake
3. Wish You Were Dead
4. Black Daze
5. Save Yourself
6. Drop the Hammer Down
7. 21st Century Man
8. Old Wounds, New Scars
9. All Over But the Shouting
10. Good Night
http://wreckingcrew.com/Ironbound/
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