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Rating:
Since their inception, Uriah Heep lived in the shadow of monuments like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. A complicated musical existence that can be compared to that of Overkill, overshadowed by the dominance of other forces like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and partly Anthrax as well. Yet, the band of Ellsworth has shown over the years its importance to the thrash metal genre, managing to gather a loyal following.
"Under the Influence" is the third of Overkill's fifteen creations, released in 1988, the year of "...And Justice for All" and "So Far, So Good... So What," so largely "hindered" by these other two major releases in the star-spangled country. The crucial figure in the birth, growth, and then consolidation of Overkill is Bobby Ellsworth, assisted by the faithful D.D. Verni on bass.
The true defining element of Overkill's music is Ellsworth's voice, so "childish" and pissed off that it stands unique in the entire horizon of metal. It, combined with the instrumental section, generates a fundamentally thrash metal album, although there are some interesting and more complex ideas that will be explored in later works (especially in "The Years of Decay"). At the same time, we also have a multitude of riffs (spawned by guitarist Sid Falck) that craft a sound that is still raw and partly derivative, influenced by the great thrash masters who had already been dominating the market for some years.
Musically, if Overkill demonstrates in "Under the Influence" not to be fully "autonomous" yet, they certainly have the great desire to prove themselves. The opener "Shred" shows them angry enough with a well-supported rhythm section and a blistering pace. Great bass work and superb construction for "Never Say Never" where Falck's riffs and Ellsworth's shrill voice rise to chase each other throughout the track's duration. In the same vein, "Hello from the Gutter" and "Mad Gone World", anchored to the US thrash roots, with Ellsworth continuing to stand out thanks to a timbre that marvelously fits with the band's rhythms and sound.
The second part of the CD shows us the more complex sides of the group, who venture into solutions partly distant from those presented in the initial tracks. "Drunken Wisdom", "End of the Line", "Head First", and "Overkill III" are indeed tracks where the devastating energy with which Under the Influence opened is slightly (only very slightly) toned down: the overall atmosphere becomes darker and more "pondered," a characteristic which we'll also find in "The Years of Decay." This very second part of the CD lowers the overall value of the platter mainly due to that lack of power which, on the contrary, crushes the eardrums for all the initial 25 minutes. The compositional level remains good, but the premature nature of some solutions affects the final judgment on the entire work.
An album that remains positive nevertheless, although Overkill had already shown in the past that they could do better, something that will happen again in the future. Rating 3 and a half.
1. "Shred" (4:05)
2. "Never Say Never" (5:58)
3. "Hello From The Gutter" (4:12)
4. "Mad Gone World" (4:31)
5. "Brainfade" (4:08)
6. "Drunken Wisdom" (6:18)
7. "End Of The Line" (7:03)
8. "Head First" (6:02)
9. "Overkill III" (6:28)
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Elimination (04:35)
Terminal
What disease
You told me too late
What's this cough and wheeze
Fatal
You're shittin' me
A second opinion
Is what I need
Laughin' in a windstorm
Blowin' all the cornstalks down
Cryin' in a funeral home
Forward my mail, six feet underground
Elimination (x4)
Contagious
Say why not
Not just me
Waitin' to rot
Painful
Yeah I know
It couldn't be easy
When I had to go
I'm yankin' on the plug
And I can't seem to get it loose
Pullin' all the stops
Your ideals change
When you got nothing to lose.
Elimination (x4)
Eliminate the right
Eliminate the wrong
Eliminate the weak
Eliminate the strong
Eliminate your feelings
Eliminate too late
Eliminate the hope
Eliminate, eliminate
If I had just one more day
I'd turn it all around
I'd make a play of good, clean livin'
And dig me out of the ground
And if I had just one more day
I'd say it to your face
I'd pull the plug on everyone
Eliminate this race.
We want the cure
And we want it now
Reissue hope
We don't care how
You're makin' a mess
Diseasin' a nation
Runaway train to elimination
Hopeless
There's no doubt
Set on a slow burn
From the inside out
Careful
What for
Last one out
Closes the coffin door
Spendin' all you saved
And wishin' for a little more
If i'm lookin' at the ceiling
Then I must be layin' on the floor.
Elimination (x4)
Terminal
What disease
You told me too late
What's this cough and wheeze
Fatal
You're shittin' me
A second opinion
There's gotta be
Laughin' at the epidemic
Something is going around
Crying at the epidemic
Pullin' on nails, six feet underground.
Elimination (x4)
Eliminate the right
Eliminate the wrong
Eliminate the weak
Eliminate the strong
Eliminate your feelings
Eliminate too late
Eliminate the hope
Eliminate, eliminate
Elimination (x4)
Eliminate the right
Eliminate the wrong
Eliminate the weak
Eliminate the strong
Eliminate your feelings
Eliminate too late
Eliminate the hope
Eliminate, eliminate
04 Nothing to Die For (04:22)
Old enough to know better
Too young to care
Bent on self destruction
Goin' nowhere
If I had a reason
I could make it work for me
If I had an answer
It wouldn't be so hard to see
Feelin' all just the same
Feelin' all like no pain
Goin' on down the drain
Make my own decisions
Just go away
Take the consequences
Just not today
Got enough reasons
Still not workin' for me
Got all the answers
Still so hard to see
Somethin' is confusin' me
Somethin' is abusin' me
Somethin' is refusin' me
Life
Let me live
I wanna give
I've been to hell and back
So many times before
Take me there
I don't care where
And show me why
There's nothing to die for too
Old enough to know better
Too dead to change
Went in with a full deck
Goin' out deranged
I had all the reasons
Tried, it didn't work for me
I had all the answers
I was too blind to see
Mirror man in my eye
Mirror man gonna cry
Mirror man make you die
Let me live
I wanna give
I've been to hell and back
So many times before
Take me there
I don't care where
And show me why
There's nothing to die for too
06 Birth of Tension (05:04)
You are killin' me
Mouth is movin' but I cannot hear you speak
Life's a tragedy
Go on livin' in a world not for the weak
Keep your dreams inside your heart
Never let the pressure tear you apart
Truth is whispered on a breath
Loud enough to cover the smell of death
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the birth, the birth of tension
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the tension, tension, tension
Don't you understand
Too much tension, snap
Then you lose your grip
Too many demands
Start at birth, snap
From the womb you're ripped
Leave your dreams inside behind
Never had a reason that you'll never find
Tension builds another way
Gonna make you all go away
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the birth, the birth of tension
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the tension, tension, tension
Too much tension, all around
Too much tension, bring you down
All the pressures in the narrow mind
All the reasons you'll never find
Did you kill your father
Sleep with your mother
Idolize your sister
Were you jealous of your brother
Did ya kick the dog
Were you beat a strap
Were you really be abused
Were you fakin' all that
Too tense
You are killin' me
Many ways so little time to think
Life's catastrophe
Glass empty and I really need a drink
Movin' all so very quick
Movin' so fast that its gets me sick
Let me outta here
Livin' ain't livin' with the tension and the fear
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the birth, the birth of tension
Never thought too important to mention
Livin' with the tension, tension, tension
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Other reviews
By ez
"With this album, Overkill bids farewell to the '80s, knowing they undoubtedly deserve a place just behind the four great American thrash bands."
"The grand finale is entrusted to 'E.Vil N.Ever D.Ies', a bone-crushing live thrash... guided by Blitz’s sandpaper-like voice."
