UMUR "From the Underground and Below" is the 9th full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through Steamhammer Records in September 1997. It´s the successor to "The Killing Kind" from 1996...

...and if you are familiar with "The Killing Kind (1996)", "From the Underground and Below" pretty much continues where that album left off. It´s groove oriented thrash metal with a very heavy sound production. The band are as always very well playing and Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth delivers his raw vocals with conviction and passion.

The material is generally well written and relatively effective, but the songwriting is not exactly adventurous and there aren´t many tracks featured on the album which are catchy beyond what is usual for the band´s material. "Long Time Dyin'" has since become a live stable for the band, and it´s one of the highlights on the album, but it´s probably "Promises" which stands out the most on the album, as it´s a power ballad type track, which you won´t hear often from Overkill.

As mentioned "From the Underground and Below" features a very powerful sound production, which provides the music with an ultra heavy sound. There´s a metallic tone to it (especially the bass), which suits the music well. Upon conclusion "From the Underground and Below" is another quality release by Overkill and while it´s not the strongest release in their discography and you´ll have to be able to appreciate the groove metal element (which is something I´ve learned a lot of old school thrash metal listeners have a very hard time doing), it´s still a pretty good album deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.