Tag Archives: thrash metal

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

“Thrashing Like A Maniac” by Various Artists

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Artist: Various Artists
Title: “Thrashing Like A Maniac”
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 2/5/2008
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 3.75/5

During my own formative musical years I was fortunate enough to have the original titans of the Thrash Metal genre providing me with lessons and influence that would be carried on strong for a long time and looking back on it I had to say that it was great to be a fan of this stuff and watch the progression of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth. The repertoire of these groups and several more like them are legendary and have not lost an ounce of their initial impact and with that being said, who shall pick up the ball and run with it into the next few decades? This rousing CD aims to answer that question as it offers up sixteen bands that are slowly building up their own names on the Metal geography and using the lessons taught by the past masters to do it properly. The adventure begins with a band that names themselves after a classic album by Exodus and does some justice with their “Immortal Life”. Lots of quick riffs and double bass drumming in this. Evile from the UK comes up next and these guys are stars in the making. I have been lucky to catch them in concert a few times and they do it up right. I found it interesting to hear the singer on this one sounding a little like classic Araya from Slayer. Municipal Waste are more of a cross over to the Hard core sound kind of band and if you are looking for the new champions of that sound then look no further than these guys.
Continue reading “Thrashing Like A Maniac” by Various Artists →

Events, Reviews

Slayer & Megadeth @ Izod Center (8/12/2010): American Carnage Tour

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Artist: Slayer
Venue: Izod Center (East Rutherford, NJ)
Opener: Megadeth, Testament
Date: 8/12/2010
Label: American Records

The East Coast contingent of the Metal Republic was finding a whole lot of entertainment being delivered to them these last few weeks especially if they were only paying attention to the various clubs around them in the city. It’s true because the Big Apple had a rousing week that began with Y&T, Lillian Axe and Night Ranger who had each performed shows of their own at one of our favorite haunts B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in Times Square. Now that the Hard Rock side of things had finished, it was time to indulge in the Metal once again with an incendiary roster that included Slayer, Megadeth and Testament who had all banded together under the banner of “The American Carnage Tour”. The interesting thing for me was that I was not originally planning on hitting this show even though the lineup was killer. I had seen all of the bands a number of times before and I was not able to secure my normal Metal media credentials to do it up properly but when a ticket was given to me by the friend of a friend I knew that I had to be there and let you know the overall scoop. The closest that the show would hit NYC would be at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum and the Izod Center over in East Rutherford, NJ. We would be going to that one which was all right by me since I hate the trek to the Long Island arena. It was going to be interesting to be “off duty” this evening, but since I bleed this website for you, there is really never such a thing going on. Tonight I walked among the Metal Republic as one of its own maniacs as opposed to being its scribe of what went down.

The parking area seemed full and the fans were blasting a little bit of everything from Maiden to Priest to the expected three bands that were going to play tonight. I am always amused when the tailgaters choose to listen to the band that they are going to see right before a show. There were a lot of people cooking as well and this was a good night for it. As I wandered the halls of the Izod Center, it was great to see the number of Metal heads representing and I had to say that I recognized a lot of them from the other shows that I attend on a regular basis in the city. What I was not expecting was the setup of the arena itself and what I am referring to was it being done up as a theatre and being a space that had at least a 1/3rd cordoned off. To better imagine it, think of the stage itself being closer to the middle of the floor area as opposed to the far end side. The running order for the show would be Testament, Megadeth and then Slayer.
Continue reading Slayer & Megadeth @ Izod Center (8/12/2010): American Carnage Tour →

Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal Spotlights: Anthrax

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Back in the early days of Thrash Metal, the guys in Anthrax were the hometown heroes to those Metal fans who lived in the New York area.  Formed in the Bronx, the guys were wild and their riffs insane on top of some knock you down drumming.  The UK might have given us the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal a few years earlier, but it was clear to many fans on this side of the fence that the USA was doing well at making a mark of its own.  During these formative years of my own Metal development, I had to admit that I preferred a lot more of the Anthrax stuff to that of Metallica and this surprised some of my friends but found me in kinship with those who felt the same way.  Eventually I found myself enthralled by the Tallica’s and Slayer’s but for the beginning it was NYC for me without question and few band spoke to NYC like Anthrax did.

When PiercingMetal.com was launched it was very close to the time that the original or “staple” lineup of the band had reunited and once again reminded fans about why they were so enjoyed in Metal’s history.  We also began reviewing whatever releases came out at the time as soon as we got our hungry Metal hands on them.  Click the logo below to be taken to all of the Anthrax content on PiercingMetal.com and find yourself “Caught In A Mosh” once again.
Continue reading PiercingMetal Spotlights: Anthrax →

Reviews, Videos

“War At The Warfield” (remaster) by Slayer

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Artist: Slayer
Title: “War At The Warfield” (remaster)
Label: Columbia Records
Release Date: 8/17/2010
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 4/5

While this is historically the first Slayer DVD to ever be released it is actually the second long form concert video that they had done since it was preceded by the long unavailable VHS release “Live Intrusion”. Originally released in 2004, and recorded during the bands 2001 tour for “God Hates Us All”, this DVD was also out of print until the recent 2010 re-issue. The fans that missed this the first time around should be aware that the drummer for the video is Paul Bostaph who had replaced Dave Lombardo in the lineup. Bostaph is good and a very aggressive drummer, but as you watch the video you might quickly realize that some of the super sonic speed we loved so much from Lombardo is not present. That is in no way a slight to Paul’s playing, as Dave is pretty much a drummer without peer when it comes to how Slayer music is played. The rest of the guys are still in the lineup and that is of course Tom Araya, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman who maintain course over the Thrash Metal crazed minions in front of them at the Warfield.
Continue reading “War At The Warfield” (remaster) by Slayer →