Overkill
The Killing Kind

THE REVIEW

So, I'm about to review what I consider to be one of the two best albums by the New York combo. It dates back to '95, and the two guitarists are new: Joe Comeau (also on vocals and ex-Annihilator) and Sebastian Marino.

The first song is "Battle". An excellent head-banging thrash metal start. The two new recruits handle themselves excellently, and the venomous voice of the legendary Blitz is as sharply acidic as ever. The second song is "God-Like": it has a super fast and chaotic start that settles and unfolds into tightly patterned riffs in true Overkill style (which are quite gripping). The song maintains a solid fast rhythm, interrupted by a (similarly relentless) dialogue between the two guitars: exceptional. Then comes "Certifiable", one of the most beautiful tracks in my opinion. It leads you to frenzied head-banging, and its lines are all worth singing. The height is reached with the words: "let me in (guitar hit) you are better (another instrument hit) in (hit) motherfucker!!!!" and the following killer solo.

Then we move to the Sabbath-like and intensely cathartic and dark "Burn You Down/To Ashes". The track develops into deadly doom metal that subsequently explodes into not-so-sludge, very thrash sludge/thrash. A well-constructed and effective piece. A jolt wakes us from the catharsis: it's the fast "Let Me Shut That For You" with its double bass drums and the wild choir's orcish charge. It ravages your eardrums with three solitary pauses, each separated by lashes of palm muting. Nearly progressive solos follow, and it all ends with the usual orcish charge that characterized most of the track. After this, you move into a vitriolic crossover thrash/rap. It's "Bold Face Pagan Stomp", where Blitz spews the acidic words almost babbling, rendering them incomprehensible. Another excellently executed track. Then comes the instrumental "Feeding Frenzy", where the excellent D.D. Verni's bass is on full display. Another hit for Overkill.

Next, we move to "The Cleansing". The vocal part of this piece is extremely unique: Blitz vibrates his monster-like voice in an unusual way, as if to elongate the sound. This makes it even more acidic and venomous. Otherwise, it’s a great thrash piece played damn well. "The Morning After/Private Bleeding" is a grand ballad with a synthesizer. It relaxes the mind and evokes emotion with a dual acidic/normal choir-like and effective singing. Melodic and beautiful. The play closes with "Cold, Hard Fact", a song with a "Nirvana-like" start that develops into sharp thrash, pounding and cutting when necessary and displaying melody at certain moments. The drums merge with the guitars, and the bass does an excellent job. Not to mention the solos that come quickly one after the other, leading up to a climax. This, with a crescendo of chords, takes us to the second part of the song and the end of the album.

No missteps then, in this album that, along with "Horrorscope", crowns Overkill as one of the best thrash-metal bands of the movement.