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.” Continue reading “ReliXIV” (re-release) by Overkill→
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. Continue reading “ReliXIV” by Overkill→
Artist: Speed\Kill\Hate Title: “Acts Of Insanity” Label: Escapi Music Release Date: 6/6/2006 Genre: Thrash Metal Rating: 7/10
Clearly the music scene today is missing some good old-fashioned Thrash Metal. Thanks to the members of Speed\Kill\Hate, fans of the genre that pretty much kicked off a wide variety of styles now have something with a classic sound and vibe to it. Fronted by lead singer Mario Frasca the band drives the point home from the very first track and across the whole record. If slam-dance moshing is up your alley there is definitely a lot of things you can pound your boots to on this one. The members who make up the albums core on the musician side certainly know something about giving the audience a good thrashing; you see they are also part of the band Overkill (a legend in the Metal world on their own). Dave Linsk, Derek Tailer and Tim Mallare handle the guitar, bass and drumming on the recording and their musicianship is pretty solid from top to bottom. Tailer does good on the bass, as in Overkill he is doing guitars to D.D.’s bassmanship. Mallare left Overkill last year while Linsk and Tailer are still recording and touring with the band. They maintain that Speed Kill Hate is not a project band at all yet very simply it is something else that they are involved in musically. At times I felt there was a little too much of the same vibe going on, but its been so long since a solid Thrash record has come along that I could be wrong. Fans who lean towards some aspects of later Pantera, Superjoint Ritual and perhaps Hatebreed will find some amount of pleasure within these tracks. Frasca has a lot of the Anselmo and Jasta qualities that make for a good Thrash lead man. During the listen I felt my head beginning to do the required banging that is sure to hit other listeners when they play this album. Continue reading “Acts Of Insanity” by Speed\Kill\Hate→
Artist: Bronx Casket Company Title: “Hellectric” Label: Candlelight Records Release Date: 10/18/2005 Genre: Gothic Metal Rating: 7.5/10
When you think of a band that combines the talents of Overkill’s D.D. Verni and Tim Mallare as well as the guitar work of Jack Frost you envision some stellar Power Thrash Metal band to be result of the teamwork. However when you add the keyboards of Charlie Calv and vocalist Spy (Myke Hideous of Misfits/Empire Hideous) you get something entirely different. Instead of raging thrash or things along those lines you find this release to be more in tune with Gothic Metal. I liked this change for it added the level of interest to these players’ collaborations and did not give me “Seven Witches 2” or “Overkill 2”. However one of the main points that stand out very early in this release is the dead-on sound of Type-O-Negative. This caught me off guard as it was not only in some of the vocal tones that Spy offered but also the feel of the overall groove especially in the area of keyboards and guitars. Type-O-Negative was known for certain feels during their songs and their music is something that many have missed while the band works on new material. This void made the CD a welcome listen but it was also because this was something that was totally unexpected from Verni and Frost. The BCC does maintain a level of heaviness throughout the album but they do not take the levels of heaviness up to the notch that TON does insofar as high speed riffing. This heavy groove comes through most prominently on the songs “Little Dead Girl”, “Everything I Got” and “Dream Of Angels” among the others and I have to say that these became my favorites right off the bat. With the song “Sherimoon” the band delivers a sense of Rob Zombie under the Gothic grind that is laid down and there is a quirky little instrumental which employs some of “The Munsters” theme. They perform a cover of the Lynryd Skynryd classic “Free Bird” and while it’s given a Gothic twist that works I am not sure how this will be received by the larger public. There are some songs that should not be changed and I think most will agree that this is one of them. The band does a nice job of it and I am sure it was more an homage than anything else.
I have to say that I enjoyed this record as a whole and I really think fans of Type-O-Negative and music that falls into this specific genre will go for it as well. Perhaps it was those similarities that I spoke of that made this win me over so quickly but perhaps it was also the fact that I enjoy the musical output of Verni and Frost in their other bands. I like to give quality side-projects a thumbs-up when it is deserved. In a time when so much crap is issued it is nice to see something that is worthwhile and fun come from several standouts in the industry. Give it a listen I think you will be caught as well.
Track List:
1. Little Dead Girl
2. Everything I Got
3. Dream Of Angels
4. Sherimoon
5. Bleed With Me
6. Motocrypt
7. Let My People Go
8. Free Bird
9. In My Skin
10. Can’t Stop The Rain
11. Mortician’s Lullaby
12. Live For Death
Artist: Overkill Title: “Wrecking Everything – Live In Asbury Park NJ” Label: Spitfire Records Release Date: 2002 Genre: Thrash Metal Rating: 8/10
Withstanding the tests of time is Heavy Metal Thrash Icon “Overkill”. Committed to their cause and rocking harder than ever some 20 years after I first saw them back at L’Amour in Brooklyn. Yes, it has been that long and what a great testament to a bands career by putting a DVD like this one out. Starting off with a concert that is literally filled with every major track that the band had released is surely going to attrack the eager fan and those who enjoy a good metal concert DVD in the first place. The great part of this DVD is that they have given you not one but two fully packed DVD’s to enjoy. The first part is the full concert which runs a little over an hour and a half. It’s a straight concert shoot, but there are some killer angles and close-ups. You feel like you are at the show, but out of the danger of the Mosh pit. There is not much else one can say about the concert part, as I mentioned earlier it is full of their greatest numbers. Bobby Blitz and D.D. Verni (the groups only original members) do their very best to keep the metal pure that this band plays and it shows in not only their performance but their drive. Continue reading “Wrecking Everything – An Evening In Asbury Park” [DVD] by Overkill→
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