Review Summary: "Go on and take yer shot, yes its the same as the last twenty, yes it goes right in the balls"
43 years into their career, New Jersey thrash metal institute Overkill have conquered every peak the sub-genre has offered. Bobby Blitz remains a premier frontman, complete with all the piss, vinegar, and charisma the other thrash acts lost in the 90s, D.D. Verni still lays down the beefiest bass grooves in the biz, and David Linsk has clearly spent the pandemic refining his lead-guitar. The result? Scorched: a rambunctious celebration of everything Overkill.
Of course, the caveat to this description is that if you dislike Overkill you will dislike Scorched. While a noticeable improvement over the disjointed Grinding Wheel and the stagnant Wings of War, Scorched remains faithfully devoted to the formulas of Ironbound and the modern Overkill song. The closest Scorched comes to dragging is during the back half, where "Harder They Fall" and "Know Her Name" play like b-sides from White Devil Armory. Otherwise, the album is full of the strongest material Overkill have written under this formula since 2012's The Electric Age.
"Scorched" — the opener and t/t — thrashes and shreds for an effortless six-minutes, complete with one of the craziest guitar solos to ever grace an Overkill record. Deliciously funkalicious, closer "Bag o' Bones" slithers with a sleazy unseemly groove. Finally, album highlight "Fever" borrows from both Black Sabbath and Pantera to create an eerie, dynamic masterpiece, a direction I hope the band explores further in the future. While there is no material here that cracks the upper echelons of Overkill's discography, all of it is at least quite good and sure to please fans of the band.
A high floor album without the ceiling cracking moments that define Overkill's best, Scorched demonstrates that the band is still capable of refining and experimenting. Hopefully, for fans of Overkill, this album marks the dawn of a new era instead of only being one last creative hurrah.
