Seems like we’re going to have to score another one for the bad guys. And by bad guys, I am referring to some of Thrash Metal’s pioneers who refuse to acknowledge the passage of time and are still melting amp heads like it was 1986.
With Scorched (Nuclear Blast), Overkill finds themselves standing shoulder to shoulder with contemporaries like Anthrax, Testament, Sacred Reich, and Death Angel in defiance and releasing some of their best work way past the perceived thrash expiration date.
Truth be told, the genre as a whole has been extremely healthy and viable for quite some time. It’s not just the 1980s stalwarts as we’ve also seen recent smashing input from nineties institutions like Machine Head and Exhorder and that’s without taking into consideration more modern practitioners like Sylosis, Municipal Waste, and Power Trip keeping things very interesting. Bear in mind that Pantera has been recently reactivated and is taking Lamb of God on a massive summer tour.
Just a good a time as any to dust off the old high tops, battle vest, and bullet belt. Actually, maybe skip the …And Justice for All getup and just crack a beer while jamming to new Overkill gold like the rollicking ‘Harder They Fall.’ And if you like the fleet-footed nature of that jam then you’re also going to want to get accustomed to the fluctuating tempos of ‘Twist of the Wick’ and its infectious thrash hooks.
While all the players are in fine form here on Scorched – though please follow D. D. Verni’s rubbery bass lines on the title track and ‘Wicked Place’ – it’s former Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner who may be this New Jersey collective’s new secret weapon. A mostly mid-tempo stomper like ‘Goin’ Home’ was already a good time but notice the subtle cymbal work from Bittner to start things off and then the bursts of double kicks that slide in and out and act as the perfect backing to Dave Linsk’s lead guitar fireworks that really elevates the whole thing.
Thrash metal is never going away. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
Buy the album here:
https://bfan.link/Overkill-Scorched
8 / 10
HANS LOPEZ