Band: Overkill
Album: The Years of Decay
Year: 1989
Label: Atlantic
Lineup:
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth - Vocals
D.D. Verni - Bass
Bobby Gustafson - Guitars
Sid Falck – Drums
This album is Overkill’s fourth studio album, and in my opinion their definitive album. Nothing on here sucks, or is filler material. You can listen to this album all the way through and not get bored, save for maybe the intro to E.vil N.ever D.ies. This is the album that always seems to get stuck in my stereo.
The production on this album is great. Clear where you can hear the riffs, and the drums aren’t mixed too high, yet it’s not squeaky clean like a whiffle thrash album or the majority of metal albums that came out in the 90’s.
The guitar sound on this album is noticeably heavier than their previous album, “Under The Influence.” The riffs on here are crushing and really catchy (I couldn’t seem to get the main riff to “Nothing To Die For” out of my head the first time I heard this album), and the guitar leads and solos are executed nicely. The drums, like I said before, aren’t mixed too high which is a plus. There’s variety to be found in Falck’s drumming too, so for all of you who hate the continuous meatbeat ala Pleasure To Kill, this album made sure you would be pleased.
Speaking of variety, this albums features a diverse sound. You have you’re speed metal number like Elimination and Time To Kill, you’ve got your bonecrushing thrashers like Evil Never Dies and Birth of Tension, you’re slow, menacing doomy songs like Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher, and the clean guitar parts of the title track and Who Tends The Fire. All of which are solid and/or kick ass. The album does not disappoint.
The only real problem with this album people might not get used to is Blitz’s voice. It can take a while to grow on you, but Blitz really is an outstanding vocalist. So for all you nay sayers, *** You And Then Some.
EVIL! NEVER! DIES!
5/5
