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 UMR Discovery January 5, 2003 |
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"Who tends the fire? Who keeps the torches lit?" The hierarchy of the various generations of heavy metal is a curious and complicated thing, much too intricate to fully delve into here. But each successive wave is possessed of several easily identifiable archetypes, which ---
You know what? Screw it. If ever an essay was made to be written in the bluntest, least fancy language possible, this was it. Such is the fate of Overkill, one of the many bands to rise from the thrash metal movement of the 80's. Though they hailed from New Jersey, as opposed to the San Francisco Bay Area where the movement had its heart, they were as much a part of that community as Exodus or Testament. Overkill was founded at some unspecified point in the early 80s by vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and guitarist Bobby Gustafson. The band began as a very showmanlike outfit, sort of like Kiss with simpler makeup, more violence, and uglier women in the audience. Ellsworth referred to it as "a horror show," a concept that has been appealing to bands for decades and still does. (Take a bow, Iced Earth.) It wasn't too long before they began to move in a more musically focused, somewhat less comical direction - although it would be a while yet before they completely disposed of the cheese. Take a look at the cover of 'Taking Over'...
The band's first album, 'Feel the Fire', was released in 1985. At that point, truth be told, there was little to differentiate them from various other thrash groups of the time.
Blitz's voice had about as many distinguishing features as the stage set of an opener for W.A.S.P., and their riffs were heavy and fun to listen to - just like Exodus, or
Slayer, or Vio-lence, or Flotsam & Jetsam, or... yeah. The title track is still a bruiser today, however, as is the next year's single - a delightful little cover tune titled
"Fuck You."
"We're gonna walk all over you By 1991, the thrash movement was beginning to dissipate. 'Horrorscope' reflected the changes in their musical world - a deeper, heavier sound with far more introspective lyrics than most of their previous work. Their next three albums, 'W.F.O.', 'I Hear Black,' and 'The Killing Kind' delved farther into the dark and moody grind that they were slowly establishing. 'From the Underground And Below', released in 1997 when parts of the metal world were disappointed in Metallica, sick of Iron Maiden, and puzzled by the continued existence of Judas Priest, was a shredding thrash masterpiece that was faster than anything they had done for years.
"I looked him straight in the eye,
The Overkill machine continued to grind away, releasing 'Necroshine' and the tribute album 'Coverkill' in 1999, the ultra-heavy 'Bloodletting' in 2000,
"So when you walk alone, in the night
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There's the superstars who become worldwide legends, at the cost of the old-school fans'
respect. There's the talented hotshots who burn out quick and break up quicker. There's the bands that get caught in a rut and end up doing the same thing, over and
over...and over...and over...repeat ad nauseum.
And then there's the spear-carriers -- the bands that trudge patiently along, throwing in just enough variation and
evolution to keep things interesting without straying far from their roots. These are the bands that tend the fire.
Infectious--RealAudio
and just last
year 'Wrecking Everything - Live' on CD and DVD.
Overkill has been rocking consistently and heavily for eighteen years, and there's really no reason to think they're
going to change anytime soon. In an era where "heavy metal"
means "nine guys in clown masks banging headfirst into things or jumping around to a DJ's scratches,"
Overkill retains the heaviness and musical ability of the thrash movement, throwing in some innovations of their own. Highly reccomended, and thanks to Ultimate Metal
Reviews for posting reviews of this band to expose new fans (such as myself) to their music. Here's to hoping some of today's budding metallers are influenced by the
Wrecking Crew.
