This album is supposed to be one of the least successful albums from the Bay-Area thrash band Overkill. Many people have claimed that the base is to overwhelming and I agree a little. For bass players this album would be some kind of paradise because of the high base-frequency but other people thinks that the bass destroys the other instruments. This album contains both heavy pounding riffs and insane drumming and other stuff that makes Overkill to such a great band.
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth " vocals
Bobby Gustafson " guitars
D.D Verni " bass
Sid Falck " drums
Shred (4:05)
This is one wierd song, it starts with insanely fast guitars and drums, this type of style is very typical for the New York band Nuclear Assault. Any way, the pace slows down to a heavy and powerful rhythm section, the vocals of Bob is the same aggressive and whiney vocals that has been a mark for band. The song switches between tempos from insane riffs to heavy riffs, a good song but if you don"t like fast stuff this will be a bit annoying. 4/5
Never Say Never (4:58)
The intro contains of heavy riffs which will increase in pace after a few seconds, the song has plenty of energy and great riffs. The tempo is fast, you can head bang to it which is a fun thing to do. There is a few bass sections here which works as fillers. This is a great song that will suit most listeners. 5/5
Hello From The Gutter (4:14)
This song has a happy feeling to it, the riffs are a bit high-pitched compared to their other heavy stuff, the vocals is also a bit high-pitched. The song is a fast song but there is no insane drumming like Slayer for example, the song is catchy but not really a highlight. 3/5
Brainfade (4:09)
This song has a strange intro riff which is also played later in the song but the song in general is great. Great chorus and so is the verse, the riffs are heavy and medium-paced. The song gets more intensive near the end while the solos are played, the song ends with the same riffs as those in the intro. 4.25/5
Drunken Wisdom (6:17)
This song is one of the slowest songs of the album, the riffs are slow and grinding but the intro is played in calm acoustics, and the vocals is the same. The song gets faster after 3:30 min which I think is the only good section of the song because it gets catchiest as the most. 3.75/5
Mad Gone World (4:31)
This song starts off with a crazy sounding riff which is played in a fast tempo along with speeded drums. The song switches pace after 2 minutes and then the song gets into a meduim tempo which is similiar to other songs. 4/5
End Of The Line (7:03)
The song starts with some kind of "marsching" riffs and the drums sounds pretty much the same. The song later turns into a Iron Maiden/Metallica blend, the rhythm section reminds of Iron Maiden and the shredds reminds a little from Metallica. The guitar solo is one of the best I"ve heard from Overkill yet. 3.75/5
Head First (6:02)
This song screams metal, the bass does the intro and the riff is catchy and heavy. The bass is very good on the track and D.D also delivers some nice filler sections. One of my favorites but many poeple would say that this song would sound like the other songs. 5/5
Overkill Iii (Under The Influence) (6:32)
The song starts with calm and melodic acuostic guitars and later turns into a thrashing frenzy, this would be the most thrashiest song on the album. Nothing much to say about this song really, maybe the vocals and the end would be the only bad things about this song. 3.25/5
To me this was a great album, I play bass so I enjoyed this very much just because of the fact that there was alot of base in these songs. I think that this is a very underrated album that deserves some credit and the band also. You don"t hear so much of these great thrash-veteran bands almost any where so this was very enjoyable. I can recommend this album to most metalheads, people that never heard these kind of vocals maybe would reject this band by just listen to the vocals which is a shame.
PROS
+ Lots of bass
+ Catchy riffs
+ Many songs
+ Unique vocals
CONS
- I guess people doesn"t like these kind of vocals
- Yes, the bass can be to much sometimes
- The riffs may seem similiar to each other
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
" Never Say Never
" Brainfade
" Head First
Overall album rating will be: 4/5
