OVERKILL does it again with ‘The Electric Age’!
OVERKILL – The Electric Age CD
@@@@@ 5 Anarchy @’s out of 5!!!!!
OVERKILL has been one of my favorite bands since I heard them way back in the 80’s. My introduction to them was on one of the Metal Massacre comps and the song ‘Feel the Fire’. ‘Taking Over’ was and still is my favorite album of theirs, it was fucking fierce! The “hey-day” so to speak was probably in the ‘Elimination’ / ‘Horrorscope’ days as that is what most people look to when comparing OVERKILL’s impressive body of work to itself.
‘The Electric Age’ is their 16th album!…And I have all of them. I was pumped in the days leading up to the release of this highly anticipated album. It’s predecessor ‘Ironbound’ was easily OVERKILL’s best album in over 20 years, it rivaled the greatness of some of those earlier releases. So with that said the big question was would ‘The Electric Age’ be able to live up to such a giant of an album? The answer is a simple yes. It does live up ‘Ironbound’ but does not top it. I’ve listened to the album about four times now and although the album is kicking thrash metal ass all over the gutter I haven’t found anything that stands as strong as ‘The Green and Black’ or even the song ‘Ironbound’ itself.
‘Electric Rattlesnake’ is a catchy thrash tour-de-force that drops into a killer SABBATH riff/breakdown before really chilling out. It revisits the SABBATH riff and then kicks it back into full blown intensity, smoldering guitar solo and all! This song itself puts most of the young retro-thrash new starts in their place. This is how it’s done…son.
‘Save Yourself’ is another MOTORHEAD driven punk influenced number that again recalls OVERKILL’s earlier years. Even the vocal delivery is so classic OVERKILL, I am getting all teary eyed listening to this one…’Drop the Hammer Down’ even revisits ‘Feel the Fire’. Listen to that break just before the solo and you hear exactly what I mean. Fuck yeah!
My buddy Joseph commented on how energetic the band is and that is no joke. Blitz goes to town on this record belting it out like a hesher half his age! They have kept the same line-up for the last three releases now and it is really paying off. The band is TIGHT. Derek Tailer and Dave Linsk are straight up badasses that have earned a place in metal history as one of the great guitar duos. These dudes play for keeps and with DD Verni holding down the low end flawlessly as he always does OVERKILL are a top notch wrecking crew that cannot be stopped!
Although the line-up for Killfest looks pretty week I am super stoked to see these New Jersey thrashers bring it live. Not a lot of bands get a chance at making another run at it. OVERKILL never went away and always stayed hard and heavy, but they are back on the top of their game. They have proved that ‘Ironbound’ was not a fluke and that they still have “it”. I am so stoked to be here celebrating this achievement and this album with them.
As far as thrash metal goes this is the album of the year at this point! Are they going for a repeat? ‘Ironbound’ earned metal album of the year in many circles. Will ‘The Electric Age’ see the band recapture the thrown? So far my vote is with Blitz and crew! Wrecking Crew that is!
ThrashPunx 