Tag Archives: derek tailer

Events, Reviews

Overkill & Accept @ Best Buy Theater (4/16/2011)

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Logo - Overkill

Artist: Overkill
Venue: Best Buy Theater (New York, NY)
Opener: Accept, Sabaton, Cypher Seer
Date: 4/16/2011
Label: E1 Entertainment

I know that just by saying this that a lot of Metal fans will think me having a screw loose or not really knowing about the genre but here goes nothing. I am really tired about hearing about the “Big Four” concert that is happening way out in a California desert in a week or so. Yeah its cool that Metallica has chosen to do a show where Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax will all open up for them, but in truth we hear from and about these bands so much that I prefer to focus my attention on the other bands that are working their collective tails off to entertain you and not getting as much internet ink so to speak. With that being said, how cool is it that the mighty Overkill was once again in NYC and hosting an event with Accept as their direct support? In a quick answer, it was super frigging cool. The gig would be at the Best Buy Theater and find both Sabaton and Cypher Seer serving as the first bands on the line. Sadly I would not be able to arrive in time for the Nightmare Records artist Cypher Seer but I can safely say that they are a good band and one that is worth your looking into. They recently released their debut on Nightmare so help them out by ordering yourself a copy.
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Music, Reviews

“Immortalis” (Deluxe Edition) by Overkill

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Artist: Overkill
Title: “Immortalis” Deluxe Edition
Label: E1 Entertainment
Release Date: 10/25/2010
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 4.5/5

Almost as fast as it appeared as a brand name for music, Bodog Music was gone and that left our boys in Overkill needing a label in order to properly deliver their message of Thrash Metal mayhem. Fortunately the band would lock in a deal with Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and E1 Entertainment here in the good old USA and all was well in the world. The band had released what was cited as their finest work to date with “Iron Bound” and even better for their fans, would re-release the album “Immortalis” and the live DVD “Live At Wacken 2007” in one sleek package. Having reviewed each item when they were initially released I am re-presenting those words for your ease of keeping track. Then I will close out with a few additional thoughts. Here we go.

Now some twenty seven years into their career the guys in Overkill have little to prove about their mastery of the Thrash Metal movement that is now mainly considered a vital segment of the hallowed Old School sound that many of us grew up on. Despite this, the legendary Thrashers return with “Immortalis”, their 14th studio effort, and it is here that we find the band returning more to their classic sound with just enough of the Metal fury of today. It also found the band reunited with Johnny and Marsha Zazula who helped initially launch the Overkill name into the Metal stratosphere. As an album it’s solid and definitely shows the world that they are not relics from the past who don’t know the scene that is around in Metal’s present day. One of the songs that prove this quite clearly is “Skull And Bones” which offers up a duet between Blitz and Randy Blythe from that band they call Lamb Of God (perhaps some of you have heard of them :). The two bands shared the stage at the second Gigantour and it was a great way for the Old School to meet the New. When compared to their last studio release “ReliXIV”, I have to admit that I liked this one a little bit more because on top of the thrashing there was a little more musical experimentation than I expected to find Overkill doing. Continue reading “Immortalis” (Deluxe Edition) by Overkill →

Music, Reviews

“ReliXIV” (re-release) by Overkill

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Artist: Overkill
Title: “ReliXIV” (remaster)
Label: Metal Mind Productions
Release Date: 11/2/2009
Rating: 3/5

Originally released in 2005 on Spitfire Records, the fine folks over at Metal Mind Productions have done the Wrecking Crew a service and re-released remastered editions of three of Overkills most recent albums. They’ve been given the treatment and sound fantastic and are limited to 1000 copies, but let’s hope that changes once interest in the band picks up steam again with their new album in early 2010. We presented thoughts on this release at the time of its first issue and are re-presenting that commentary for your review below and then offering up some additional thoughts on the remaster.

“Overkill is one of those Metal bands who have been able to withstand the tests of time as far as the music industry is concerned. Veterans to the Thrash Metal genre and Legends among their peers these NY/NJ natives have proven time and time again the level of quality and dedication that they have to their craft. For twenty years they have delivered a neck wrecking Thrashing to a legion of diehard Metal heads that show up in throngs to each and every performance. The new album of “ReliXIV” takes their 14th recording to a slightly different level. After so many years of straight ahead Thrash Metal adventures, this album leans more towards a grinding Heavy Metal vibe. Instead of blazing through it all the guys allow that a little slower head banging can be done as they mix their classic style elements into a more traditional Metal based album. Of all bands they deserve the right to experiment a little bit and after 14 albums loaded with influential songs it’s nice to see that they can change course and still deliver. Core members and founders Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (vocals) and D.D. Verni (bass) still run the machine and drive the course of their brand without fail. Tim Mallare (drummer for some years) along with Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer (both on guitars) deliver a different level of shredding and thrashing for the fans to absorb. Songs like “Pound Of Flesh” and “The Mark” have the classic Overkill feel to them, but “Within Your Eyes” and “Love” are totally out of the normal expectation that the fans might have of their idols. The homage to their past shines on the closing track “Old School” which lines out the bands philosophy on their beginnings and also holds a little respect to their early Punk Rock roots. I really enjoyed the fun spirited nature of this track. So here is where your decision comes in, do you accept change and difference in the bands you enjoy or do they need to remain as you remembered them from the very beginning? If you agree that the only constant is change then you can accept the different sounds that the band gives us here. If you cannot, then you should buy it anyway out of support of your idols. There is some fun and interesting stuff here and I am sure Overkill shall return to give a proper thrashing once again very soon.”
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Reviews, Videos

“Live At Wacken Open Air 2007” by Overkill

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Artist: Overkill
Title: “Live At Wacken Open Air 2007”
Label: Bodog Music
Release Date: 2/5/2008
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 4/5

Wacken Open Air has long been considered the Metal Festival of note for many, many years and over the course of its three days plays host to tens of thousands of head bangers who get to indulge in the performances of dozens upon dozens of the worlds most popular Heavy Metal bands. Legendary Thrash Metal icons Overkill are no strangers to a stage like this one but it’s the first time that their fans are treated to the full set performed by the group on a DVD. It’s the perfect thing for those of us who have too many commitments to allow for a quick jaunt over to Germany to indulge in a hefty dose of Metal mayhem. “Live At Wacken Open Air 2007” presents to the home viewer just what it sets out to without the addition of any unnecessary bells and whistles. Instead it’s a full fifty minutes of head banging delight at the hands of the genres respected veterans. The group had just signed their deal with Bodog Music and delivered “Immortalis”, an album that not only found the band returning to a little more of their roots in terms of musical direction but also a move that paired them up again with Johnny and Marcia Zazula of Megaforce Records days gone by. This DVD is actually the second one from Overkill as the first was “Wrecking Everything”, a double DVD devastation from Asbury Park, NJ where you not only got the concert but a cool batch of additional features as well such as a band documentary. Such things can often be dreadful, but a band that was as do it yourself from the streets of the cities of New York and New Jersey like Overkill was sure makes for some interesting viewing.
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Events, Reviews

Overkill @ B.B. King Blues Club (10/21/2007)

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Overkill are one of the truest legends of Thrash Metal and still deliver the goods in concert. This appearance found the band bringing along After Forever from Holland and they were another band that I really enjoy so I would not miss this show. If you want to read more just scroll past the logo.

Logo - Overkill

Artist: Overkill
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: After Forever
Date: 10/21/2007
Label: Bodog Music

Hot on the heels of the release of their latest slab of brutality, East Coast Thrash Metal veterans Overkill were on the road promoting it at New York City’s place for Metal B.B. King Blues Club & Grill. The band had performed earlier in the year on a spectacular bill that included Metal Church, Joey Belladonna and Meliah Rage and judging by the attendance observed as the night progressed no one seemed to mind that they had only caught the band a few months previous to this show. Tonight’s show would only find one band performing and it would be the Dutch sensation After Forever. Here’s a little bit about how the night went down.

After Forever: I’ve been fortunate enough to have had some experience and background with After Forever’s music and since the first time I heard them I have been a fan. The band isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination and has been around since 1995 delivering their very Melodic and often Dark Symphonic Metal. They are fronted by Soprano vocalist Floor Jansen who many might know from the works of Ayreon (another Dutch group of note). Tonight would be the bands very first time performing in NYC and this visit with Overkill would be part of the groups first ever visit to the USA. Oddly enough, as soon as the band arrived on US soil they would headline the ProgPower USA Festival as one of their first shows. The appeal in After Forever music is pretty wide because they are just such a “big” band in their overall sound. There is a healthy amount of melody going on and moments where they touch into darker territory via the use of growls and grunts on top of the crushing and powerful guitar riffs. The keyboards bring out the flourishing moments and the drumming is on the money as far as I have observed and this is what I had come to the conclusion of from only being exposed to a couple of their albums. Tonight would be a little bit of a celebration for After Forever as well, for it was not a month yet since their debut release was delivered on Nuclear Blast Records. They would leave the album as a self-titled one and having heard it already I knew the audience would be in for some thrilling music from these guys. They hit the stage like a hurricane with the opening track from their new album “Discord”, and when it came to “Transitory” you could feel that they meant business from the stage.
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