Published on Jan 12, 1998
The first time I ever heard Overkill, there was a 12-inch promo
single of “Elimination” jammed in one of the new release bins at
the college radio station. Obviously it was left there as a prank
by one of the overnight metal DJs, but if it was in the studio at
the start of my shift, it was fair game… so onto the turntable it
went at 250 watts.
There was no turning back for me after that. Their final albums
for Atlantic, including
I Hear Black, surprised me in the maturity of the
songwriting and playing. But after that, for some reason, I fell
away from following Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth and crew – nothing
against them. I guess it was because, since they were no longer on
Atlantic, I stopped getting their discs in their promo
packages.
Then, a couple of months ago, their latest release,
From The Underground And Below, arrived in my mailbox. And
while Overkill is still charging forward in the metal vein despite
the constant pronouncements of metal’s death, the higher quality of
songwriting has taken a back seat for sheer power.
The second album with their re-tooled lineup, D.D. Verni still
provides a solid anchor on the bass, while drummer Tim Mallare
doesn’t always get the chance to really cut loose on the traps –
too bad, ’cause he’s incredible at what he does. The two-guitar
attack of Joe Comeau and Sebastian Marino fit in with this band
perfectly; it almost seems that both of them have been with the
band since its inception.
Despite the abandonment of the metal genre by some of the
scene’s biggest names over the years, Overkill continue to turn
their guitars up to 11 and shred your speakers – rather refreshing,
to be honest, to see a band so dedicated to its roots. Occasionally
I think I hear a bend towards industrial, like on the “miracle man”
chant on “Save Me” – but this adds to the music for me, almost
creating an extension of what Overkill has accomplished in their
career.
When Ellsworth et al. release the hounds and let it shred,
From The Underground And Below is unstoppable. “It Lives”
and “F.U.C.T.” are incredible tracks that grab the listener by the
head and slams them into the stereo. Pain never felt so good.
The die-hard metal listener might scream in fright at the
introduction of acoustic guitars – once at the end of “I’m
Alright,” and during the verses of “Promises”. Fear not, for
Overkill uses them to their advantage. The acoustics allow the
talents of Comeau and Marino to be displayed in new ways, and
“Promises” is a decent attempt, albeit slightly flawed, attempt to
do a slower-tempo number.
In fact, there are very few moments where
From The Underground And Below falls short. “The Rip N’
Tear” is one of those few moments – the songwriting takes a bad
turn on this one in the verses. It picks up a little bit in the
bridge, but the track as a whole doesn’t impress me.
In that sense, while
From The Underground And Below is another great Overkill
album, the songwriting doesn’t seem to be the main focus here. On
albums like
W.F.O. and
I Hear Black, there was a noticeable improvement in the
attention paid to the songwriting. The material contained on this
disc is not bad by any means, but when one knows what they’re
capable of, it’s a little bit of a letdown.
Ellsworth and crew make a strong case on
From The Underground And Below that metal is far from dead,
and is another solid effort of theirs to add to your CD
collection.