Artist: Overkill
Label: Megaforce Records
Release Date: 1985
Rating: 5 Skulls
Death's Review:
I could not believe my eyes when I read the email Hel had sent me, telling me that Ticketmaster had a listing for Overkill in Los Angeles - there apparently will be a gig in the fall of 2005 at the legendary Whiskey. Amazing. Thought I'd never seen the day. I was pysched to get to experience the band, LA-style, with my West Coast friends in tow. Of course, having moved from the east coast in 2002, I've seen Overkill probably a dozen times through the years - the first time being one of my first ever concerts, when they opened for Megadeth on the Peace Sells tour (Overkill was supporting the Taking Over album) and I had just seen the video for "In Union We Stand" on Headbanger's Ball, which is what was got me interested in the band. The concert sealed the deal. I immediately bought both Taking Over and its predecessor, Feel the Fire, which in hindsight has proven to be an important landmark in the evolution of mid-eighties American thrash/speed metal, particularly the so-called "New York" strain. Sure, like many early thrash albums, Feel the Fire is a bit underproduced, but the songs are so very cool, so very Overkill and so very metal, featuring some of the band's most intense material. The fact that Metal Judgment is rapidly approaching its sixth anniversary without a Feel the Fire classic review almost nauseates me.The most well-remembered track on the record is probably "Rotten to the Core," one of the band's signature songs that has remained a staple of their live set through the years. It features fine examples of the band's much used eighties punk style, call-and-response lyrics, a hallmark of New York thrash. Great Blitz screams here to an overall tone that is the perfect example of the early Overkill vibe - a vibe that came from both punk and metal, as is suggested by the hardcore vibe of the nostalgic new track "Old School" off of RelixIV. "Hammerhead" is also sometimes played live and is a total balls-out, straight-ahead thrasher, but to me, the real value of this record can be found in some of the deeper, moodier and more dynamic tracks like "There's No Tomorrow," "Feel the Fire" and the classic album closer, "Overkill" (aka "Overkill I" - the theme was used for two more sequel tracks on later albums). Blitz shows range to his singing, and the Gustafson riffing and soloing is wild, interesting and totally metal. This is definitely some of Overkill's coolest material, and I'd love to see them bust out "Feel the Fire" and "Overkill" on the new tour when they come to LA. Definitely a must-know album for students of American thrash, and definitely worth knowing every note of if you are seriously going to consider yourself an Overkill fan.
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