Liste der Bands Thrash Metal Overkill (USA) Ironbound

The popularity of thrash metal has been reputed to come from the alleged "big four" of thrash metal. Those 4 bands are Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. But personally, I've always considered Anthrax to be more of a mosh band, than a thrash band. So I thought that Overkill were one of the big four of thrash, until I read about them on SOM and also in a book about Metallica. Metallica sold out to the grunge market of the mid 1990's and Megadeth also went into a softer direction at about the same time. Overkill are one of the few original thrash bands, like Slayer and Destruction, who never compromised their style to the FM radio markets.

This 16th album was released near the time of their 25th anniversary. Vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth doesn't like to dwell in the past, he likes to think about the present time and the future. The band's promoters are pushing this as their 25th anniversary album, I like the idea and wish that they would do something special for that, besides a new release. There was a 3 year break between this album and their previous release. They toured for a year and a half after Immortalis and worked on this album for about a year and a half. All of the songs were written by the original members; Bobby "Blitz" and Verni. Though this album was recorded in New Jersey, it was mixed by Peter Tagtren (of Hypocrisy) at Abyss Studio in Sweden. They chose to have him do it, because they thought that he could add a contemporary feel to this old school styled thrash album. The album art depicts Chaley (the band's mascot) in chains, to coincide with the album's title, Ironbound.

The Green And Black is a fast thrash song, which is very formulaic of their earlier music from the 1980's. The lyrics of this song are very ambiguous, so I suppose that the title is an allusion to the color of the US Dollar, which is printed mostly in green and with a little bit of black. Ironbound is another song that thrashes a lot like their earlier stuff. I notice a similarity to the song, Use Your Head, from the Taking Over album. Bring Me the Night is a super fast song. The guitar leads borrow from the Metallica cover of the Diamond Head song, Helpless, and is infused with their own unique style of thrashing. The Goal Is Your Soul is an awesome jam with a catchy melody that reminds me of Wasted by Def Leppard. It sounds like they also borrowed a bass hook from the Metallica song, Phantom Lord. That is all mixed into their own patented style of old school thrash metal.

Give A Little has a very choppy rhythm that sounds akin to their early song, Shred, from their Under the Influence album. It has a slow and heavy interlude that is reminiscent of the song Skullcrusher, from their The Years of Decay album. The song Endless War has a melody with a striking resemblance to the song, Sign Of The Time, by ADX. That and an Iron Maiden influenced guitar solo are combined with their usual style of thrashing. The Head And The Heart starts with a slow and somber intro, then takes off shredding with a grim voice, that's a new approach for this band. Then Bobby "Blitz" resumes his usual singing voice, this song has a very catchy melody that parallels the style of Megadeth. This song is about the sorrow and regrets that stem from unnecessary violence. Killing For A Living thrashes very melodically at a fast tempo. This song is about the life of a professional hit man. SRC shreds relentlessly. SRC stands for subterranean resistance cult. It's about being conned into joining a cult and becoming brainwashed.

Although it sounds like they've borrowed a lot of melodies and rhythms from other bands, they are definitely not copycats. They've just incorporated these ideas into their own style. I welcome that, because they've recycled a lot of parts from their scrapyard. I don't mind the rehashing of their old material, because it was some great stuff. This album doesn't top their previous album, Immortalis. It falls a little bit short of that. Artists are supposed to evolve their works with new ideas. I liked the way that they added some grim vocals on the song, The Head And Heart. If they would readjust their next album with more grim vocals, it could generate more interest in the band. This is a very good album anyway. If you liked their earlier albums from the 1980's, then you'll probably like this one also.

[Originally posted October 10, 2011]

It’s been awhile since my last thrash metal review, so I guess I’ll tell you about what is now one of my favorite thrash albums of all time. The 2010 thrash metal masterpiece known as Ironbound has had a great influence on my whole general outlook on thrash metal. I first heard about Overkill about a year or so ago when I saw a flyer saying that they were going to be playing in Seattle on their 25th anniversary tour. If I had the time I would have gone, but unfortunately, one of my friends went without me. The next day he came to me and said it was one of the best thrash metal acts he had ever seen. But for some reason I didn’t bother to actually look up their music until about two months ago. And the first album that I got was Ironbound.

Now there is a huge dispute amongst metalheads over what thrash metal has turned into and if it’s still alive or if it’s turned into something else, as well as if it’s still any good or not. I tend to disagree with the people that claim thrash metal died in the 90s. But I love the 80s thrash metal era with classics like Reign in Blood, Pleasure to Kill, Master of Puppets, Welcome to Hell, etc. But I love a lot of more recent thrash metal bands like Bonded by Blood, Warbringer, and Black Breath. In fact, my favorite thrash metal band of all time is Havok, a band that formed in the 21st century. But there are a lot of thrash metal bands that formed in the 80s and are still around that have gone more on the progressive side (Metallica, Death Angel, Megadeth, etc.). I guess if it was up to me, I would put Overkill somewhere in the middle. Because they’re not 100% traditional thrash metal, but they haven’t gone completely progressive like Metallica. I think this is a perfect place to be because Overkill adds twists of other kinds of music into their blazing thrash inferno.

The musicianship amongst the members of the band is quite prominent. The member that’s been with the band for the least amount of time would be the drummer who joined in 2005, right after the release of KillBox 13. I think that KillBox 13 was their first truly good album since The Years of Decay. And ever since KillBox 13, they’ve gone nowhere but up, so I think that their current drummer has had something to do with that. Bobby is one of my favorite thrash vocalists; mainly because he doesn’t have a super high-pitched voice. I don’t really know what it is about that but it kind of bothers me when thrash metal vocalists have a really high voice. Some examples of vocalists like that would be the vocalist of Destruction, Bonded by Blood, Megadeth, and Sodom. But Blitz has his voice at the perfect pitch; so that earns him a lot of points from me.

I think I should add that I just now noticed that I’m the third person posting a review on this album. So let this and the other two reviews prove the point that this album is damn amazing. I’ve always wondered why I didn’t run into these guys earlier. I’ve been exposed to just about every other major thrash band, so why didn’t I come across these guys back in middle school like I did with Slayer, Kreator, Exodus, and many others? So overall, this is an amazing album and I would give it a perfect score.

The truth is out there for good. Overkill may damn well be the best thrash metal band ever, without a doubt and this latest offering speaks for itself. “Ironbound” is probably their most consistent output since Horrorscope and that aint saying much. Albums like Bloodletting and KillBox 13 were definitely good but this release simply proves that Overkill have actually outdone themselves. I feel a certain level of pity for Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, as their recent products don’t stand a chance whatsoever in front of this monster but hey, its Overkill we’re talking about right? Arguably the first thrash metal band to come into existence. Only Heathen’s yet to be released “The Evolution Of Chaos” would in all likelihood be a worthy contender to compete with this.

The biggest surprise to be found in here is the removal of most of the groove element that had become an ingredient in the band’s sound after Horrorscope. Here the music owes a lot to their eighties stuff with enough fresh ideas to making the listening experience all the more enjoyable. Blitz sounds as nasty as always and his high pitched shrieks sound as spine chilling as they have always been over the years. And what can be said about the guitar duo of Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer? These guys are simply outstanding. Their guitarwork is pure killer as their riffs and solos are basically a combination of breakneck thrash and solid traditional harmonies. They are by far the best replacements for Gant and Cannavino who themselves shone on Horroscope. D.D Verni once again proves why he’s one of the best metal bassists around. The skin pounder is yet again the veteran and former Hades drummer Ron Lipnicki and his drumwork on this album is likely to draw a lot of attention as this is some of the finest thrash metal drumming I’ve heard in a very long time.

I’m not going to spoil all the fun by reviewing each track in much detail as there are basically no fillers to be found here. Most of the songs are really fast and I am not exaggerating. This is by far the fastest the band has ever gone. The starter “The Green And Black”, the title track and also “In Vain” are absolute moshing essentials, especially the latter in which the drumwork is almost as frenzied as old school Holy Terror and Dark Angel. “Bring Me the Night” brings back some of the magical riffs from the NWOBHM scene whereas “The Head And The Heart” carries a certain vibe of the track “Overkill III” off the “Under the Influence” album in the starting riff section alongside that eerie death metal growl that kicks in when the main song starts. The starting riff of “The SRC” is quite possibly one of Overkill’s best especially with the part when the lead guitar comes in.

The most interesting aspect of this album is the mid sections of some of the songs that its almost hard to believe that this is the very same band that had almost drifted into near groove metal territory during most of their 90s career, though it would be unfair to say that they had sold out. On the other hand the guitar solos too are very stylishly done with all the dual guitar harmonies and usage of both blues and mohameddan scales. Even the groovier sections of some songs sound extremely catchy without sounding Panteraish whatsoever.

So let this be a lesson to all the newbies striving to thrash hard and rekindling the 80s thrash flame. This is how thrash should sound like. Being in existence for almost 30 years, this outfit from New Jersey continues to wave the flag of pure unadulterated thrash metal with their sheer enthusiasm, energy and the willingness to churn out quality stuff. It would be a huge shame if this album goes unnoticed in the year 2010 or thereafter, because for my money this is definitely up there on my list for “album of the year”. Overkill continues to shred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!