Overkill

The Years Of Decay

Overkills (HA!)

Review Score:

(10/10)
Overkill are one of the better known second-tier thrash metal bands, but they really deserve better. This is some completely first-rate thrash here, which anyone who is interested in thrash needs to check out. This is the best of the four Overkill albums that I have, and stands up very well against all but the absolute best thrash albums by Metallica, Sepultura and Anthrax, and surpasses anything I've heard from Slayer, Megadeth, Death Angel, Dark Angel, Exodus or whoever. This is definitely a classic.

The most intriguing thing about Overkill is that many of their strenths are not ones you typically find in a thrash band. Most notably, Ellsworth is quite a good vocalist. His nasally sneer might annoy some people, but it fits the music suprisingly well, particularly in their somewhat sillier but still dark tracks, like Elimination and I Hate. They're also ace when it comes to slow groove and doom tracks, and generally display a greater range of mood and styles than your average thrash band.(which is very nicely represented here) They also write some of the best lyrics in thrash, some more playful without people too silly, others darker with out becoming ridiculous. On the downside, they are good, but not truly extraordinary in the more conventionally thrash areas such as leads and rhythm guitar work. But they're good enough in those fields that their other traits put them over the top.

Everything on here is worth listening to, so I'll just cover some of the particular highlights. Elimination is simply excellent. It's got tons of energy and bouncy, Anthrax-ish feel to it, and is very catchy. The epic doom track Skullkrusher is the absolute standout. It's got fabulous vocals and a slow, pounding groove like no other. Another very catchy chorus as well. Birth of Tension is perhaps the most interesting straight up rocker. It's still got some solid dynamics though, and the middle break is quite fantastic. Who Tends the Fire is another slow epic, even more atmostpheric than Skullkrusher, though not quite as memorable overall. The title track is a sort of epic ballad. It's more deliberately paced and less formulaic than most thrash ballads, and has a great ending as well. It closes with the ferocious Evil Never Dies, probably the most intense thing on here but still pretty catchy.

Anyway, I'll cut myself off. You know what thrash is. If you like it in general you ought to like this. A lot. Check out Horrorscope and Killbox 13 as well.

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