UMUR "Scorched" is the twenty-first full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash/heavy metal act Overkill. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in April 2023. It´s the successor to "The Wings Of War" from February 2019. Overkill ususally have 2-3 years between album releases (with a good portion of touring in between), but the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown made the writing and recording process for "Scorched" a little longer than usual.

Stylistically you won´t notice any difference though as "Scorched" sounds unmistakably like another post-"Ironbound" (2010) album release from Overkill. Hard edged, groove laden, and attitude loaded thrash metal with nods towards traditional heavy metal and speed metal. Lead vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as always screams his lungs out with his raw sounding voice and snarling attitude while the band delivers a tight instrumental performance behind him.

The album opens with the title track, which features a lead guitar theme performed by Dave Links, which makes me think of AC/DC´s "Thunderstruck", and it´s definitely a standout track on the album. "Scorched" is otherwise not an album featuring many standout tracks, but it´s still a high quality album throughout and there are only a few tracks I´d say are close to the filler catagory, and those tracks are still good quality tracks, because of the generally high quality output of Overkill.

"Scorched" is well produced, featuring a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion "Scorched" worst crime is probably that it sounds a lot like the last 5-6 albums from Overkill, but if you haven´t gotten used to the consistency (or if you put on the negative glasses...the stagnation) of the band´s sound by now, you probably never will. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Kev Rowland It is strange to think that even though they did not record their debut album until 1985, Overkill actually predate the Big 4 of Thrash, and still have two of their founders in the band. One always knows what to expect with these guys as they found their style early, and have never moved too far away from that, being so influenced by Motörhead that they used to play many covers in the early days as well as taking their name from the band. Mind you, they have always been somewhat more melodic while Bobby Ellsworth has always had a great set of pipes and shows no sign at all of slowing down even though he is in his sixties now.

As with all bands, their plans were disrupted due to Covid as they originally intended to record the follow-up to ‘The Wings of War’ in 2020 and release it the following year, but that didn’t happen and due to many factors it took until April 2023 for this to finally see the light of the day, but long-time fans will be pleased to know there has been no change in style in the intervening years. Another joy is the production which is crunching and old-fashioned and I was not surprised to discover Colin Richardson had mixed this, as he has always had a great understanding of what to do with heavy music and is still one of the best around.

As for the music? It’s Overkill, so if you have any of their albums then you know what this is like, thrash which is influenced heavily by NWOBHM, loads of melody and riffs all fronted by a powering singer. Is this earth shattering? No, not really. Is it as good as 2017’s ‘The Grinding Wheel’? Probably not but is still a heck of a lot of fun all the same and long may they continue.

UMUR "Immortalis" is the 15th full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through Bodog Music in October 2007. It´s the successor to "ReliXIV" from 2005 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Tim Mallare has left and has been replaced by Ron Lipnicki. Randall Blythe (Lamb of God) guests on vocals on "Skull and Bones", singing with Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth. A promotional video was shot for "Skull and Bones".

Stylistically the material on "Immortalis" continues the thrash/groove/heavy metal style of "ReliXIV (2005)". "Blitz" sounds as driven and rock´n´roll badass as ever with his rough voice and screaming vocal style, and the rest of the band also deliver their parts with the right amount of conviction and passion. This is obviously a skilled and seasoned band playing and right from the opening track "Devils in the Mist" to the closing track "Overkill V" we´re treated to high level performances.

The material is well written too and compared to the predecessor, "Immortalis" features a few more tracks which stand out. This along with a relatively well sounding production, makes "Immortalis" one of the better albums in the less remarkable part of Overkill´s discography. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "ReliXIV" is the 14th full-length studio album by US, New York based thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in March 2005. It´s the successor to "Killbox 13" from 2003 and features the exact same lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Stylistically the material on the 10 track, 50:57 minutes long album more or less continues the same thrash/heavy metal style of the last couple of albums by the band. The groove element the band added to their music in the mid-90s is still here too (listen to some of the riffs on tracks like "Love" and "Bats In the Belfry". So overall "ReliXIV" is not the most innovative nor the most distinct sounding Overkill album. It´s still a solid release though, featuring strong musicianship and a professional sound production, which suits the material well.

So it´s in the songwriting department where "ReliXIV" could have been a stronger release. Not many tracks stand out on the album, and although tracks like "The Mark" and especially "Old School" do stand out, they aren´t exactly the most interesting tracks the band ever wrote. And that is the overall impression I get when listening to "ReliXIV". There´s little here to criticise in terms of general quality of the product, and the album is entertaining enough while it plays, but it needs a couple of highlights to really shine. When that is said a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Overkill are one of the hardest working, relentless, dependable bands in Thrash Metal. Much like Motorhead were, they were constantly on the road or pumping out album after album, flying the flag and keeping the faith over the years (and still are) whether the media were paying attention or not.

Their first four albums are pretty indispensable Thrash Metal must-haves that I am very find of. I keep a framed vinyl copy of The Years Of Decay on my wall as decoration. I can’t claim to be their biggest ever fan, for example I didn’t give their ‘90s output as much attention as I should have until recently, but I have been slowly rectifying that, and I still have a very high regard of the band even if I don’t know every single thing they ever released. Public opinions seem to be mixed on almost everything after their WFO album, but I remember clearly when almost the whole media, fan community and internet were united in love for their 2010 album Ironbound. That was a fantastic, reenergised, retro but modern, firecracker of an album that filtered what was good about classic Overkill and modernised it, and crucially had the songwriting and performance to back up the production and brilliant formula. To make a Testament comparison, it was very much their Formation Of Damnation.

What happened after Ironbound though? Was it an anomalous high-water mark like Megadeth’s Endgame but then they slowly slipped back down from the heights? Or was it a kick up the ass that was just the beginning of a new period of great album after great album?

Luckily, it was the latter. How do you possibly follow up a career rejuvenation like Ironbound? “Easy,” said Overkill a mere two years later, and promptly issued forth another fired-up, teeth shattering, razor sharp collection of classic yet modernised tracks that give the fans exactly what they want, but somehow without just recycling old material. Stylistically, it is a continuation but also a fine-tuning of what they did on Ironbound, with a few less over-long songs, and a slight rejigging of the ratio of Thrash to Classic Metal to Groove aspects, with a bit less groove this time around and a lot more thrash.

Another superb production job with great guitar tone (and more importantly for Overkill, bass tone), another impressive Ron Lipnicki drum performance, another example of Blitz’s singing/attitude at his very best (gotta love his sarcastic sounding angry snarl) all serve to compliment that aforementioned style and add to the quality of the record as a whole.

Highlights include the single “Electric Rattlesnake” as well as the brief but satisfying “Old Wounds, New Scars” and best of all is probably “Save Yourself” which is just a perfect example of the sound, spirit and style of Overkill.

If you liked Ironbound, this is a tighter, faster, even better version of what that album achieved. If you ever liked Overkill at all, there’s practically no chance you wouldn’t like The Electric Age. Sixteen original studio albums deep into their forty-year career, it was/is pretty exciting to think that the band were/still are able to make material this good.

Kingcrimsonprog If you are even remotely interested in New York Thrash Metal pioneers Overkill, this is an absolute must own product. The DVD set features two discs the two most important features of which are firstly a twenty four track, 120 minute concert from New Jersey in 2001 and secondly Batmen; a very informative documentary that takes up most of discs 2′s 99 minute run time. The concert is as energetic and entertaining as you would expect from Overkill, one of the hardest working and most consistent Thrash bands out there, with a complex light show and seemingly all the dry ice in North America. Songs like ‘Evil Never Dies,’ and ‘Overkill,’ are given the full theatrical treatment as the lights control the mood while Blitz, D.D and the rest of the band bathe in fog. The band put in one hell of a performance, with most songs sounding almost better than the studio originals and Bobby Blitz Ellsworth keeping the crowd entertained in between songs. The track listing is absolutely fantastic, with twenty four tracks spanning the bands entire career there is something for everyone from absolute classics like ‘In Union We Stand,’ ‘Rotten To The Core,’ and ‘ Hello From The Gutter,’ to songs like ‘Necroshine,’ and ‘Gasoline Dream.’ The documentary; Batmen, features candid and interesting interviews with all the members of Overkill mixed in with classic 1980s live footage from various tours and is packed full of interesting anecdotes and stories that both entertain the viewer and endear them to the band who seem like genuinely good, real people with no rock star pretensions. The DVD only loses one star because the sound and video have aged a little and the documentary is edited poorly, full of cheesy wipes and inappropriate transitions but don’t let that put you off too much, Wrecking Everything is a fantastic addition to any Metal collection. There’s no question about it, if you like Overkill you really ought to own this.