Fuck it, we're not going to wait for the announcement.

So what are the expectations here? What would you like the band to do, change things up a bit or stick with the Ironbound formula yet again? I've loved the last three, especially The Electric Age, but I can only get so much joy out of Linsk's riffs, he has simply never blown me away like Bobby G. or even Merritt and Rob.

Is there any reason to think that it will be too different from the last three? I have enjoyed them all, but I don't get excited about Overkill the same way I might for other bands, because I know what I'm gonna get and it isn't anything particularly special.

If they were to do one thing different, I'd like to see some faster, thrashier songs like Bring Me the Night that just go balls to the wall for 4 minutes straight.

Regardless of what they do end up doing, I'm quite excited. I've enjoyed the last bunch a ton, and I thought White Devil Armory was fantastic, yet quite catchy. While I have enjoyed the latest Overkill style, I would like them to take an approach similar to their 80's material, although I guess that could be said about any of the old thrash bands who still release material. I personally like the convicted, badass classic Overkill more than I do the intense, aggressive modern Overkill, but I think a blend of both styles would be totally awesome. I think it's great how Bobby has kept bringing it on for each of the last few; he has never stricken me as out of place or outdated like some of the other thrash singers do. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.

It's gonna be exactly like the last three and I'll bet my left nut on that. I love Ironbound to bits, but The Electric Age bored me to tears, and yet somehow I thought White Devil Armory was great in spite of myself. So basically I have no idea what to expect in terms of how I'll react to it, but it's a pretty safe bet that they'll be playing it safe yet again.

Good news. Last three albums have been really good.

I'm perfectly content with more of the same considering how good and how efficient the last three albums are. I mean, fuck, compared to their peers we've been downright spoiled with their turnaround. If a 30-something thrash band can right the course and actually still deliver on that style in both quantity and quality then by all means, I'll have all I can take and then some.

They're making legitimately fine albums true to the sound their best at. It's almost too good to be true and yet, there they are. I'm not letting whatever feelings of being jaded by others get in the way of that.

If I were to ever desire a change, it'd be to bring in Joe Cangelosi on drums. Nothing against Ron at all, I'm just curious how his playing could push them even further, and he's relatively a local boy.

Shit! I completely forgot to listen to White Devil Armory! I only have until October to get it! HNNNNNGGGGGG INTERNET DON'T FAIL ME NOW

I would like the next album to focus a little bit more on the punk side of the band. I love the band's punk tracks like "Old School" or "The Fight Song". The weakened punk scene needs some fresh blood and an honest revival. The thrash metal scene is already quite strong these days, so Over Kill should rather "help" the punk scene. With so many bad things going on in our world, I would like the band to write some lyrics inspired by those events as well.

Otherwise, I also like the band's hard rock tracks. The cover of Nazareth's "Miss Misery" was the last in line of a series of really strong hard rock songs. I would like the band to explore this genre further.

Maybe the band could release a double album (ten songs on each side with a running time around forty minutes each) with one disc focusing on their punk spirit with lyrics about contemporary phenomenons and the other one going back to hard rock style of the seventies.

I'm hoping the new one has more interesting songwriting. I've liked all of the last 3, but Ironbound is the only one I come back to. I probably shouldn't complain because it's better than the alternative, but I feel like they're just treading water at this point. More speed always tends to make things more interesting, so hopefully this album is really fast. Regardless of how it turns out, I'll end up buying it, but I'm definitely more optimistic for the new Testament than I am the new Overkill, even though I'm a bigger Overkill fan.

They could try to mix it up and get a real songwriter for this release.

But they sure can crank it out quickly and play it safe which appears to be all the metal scene cares about.

Real songwriter? Huh...?

It's been like 90% Verni for 25 years now, I don't see that changing.

Like everyone else I would love a more old school approach but I too expect Ironbound Part 4. The Ironbound-sound era (or the Ironsound if wou will) has gotten gradually worse, so it's interesting to see if that pattern continues or if they step up the average song quality. But even if this one will be worse than the previous one it's likely to be better than some of the stuff that came before it, like Immortalis.

"Bitter Pill" kind of reminded me of Killbox 13 era for some reason. I'd like to see more songs like that because that is a very underrated album that gets forgotten about

Killbox 13 is an odd album in that the song writing feels like it has songs from two sessions from different years on it. The 30 minutes consisting of song 1 and songs 6-10 sound like one session and the 20 minutes of songs 2-5 sound like another. Although I like the entire album, it's at song 6 where it really gets going and stays going.

Never thought about the Bitter Pill simmilarity, but I definately see it now.

But there's a bunch of songs on WDA I would rank higher and prefer to have it's style done on the next album over that one. Most certain: Where There's Smoke.

White Devil Armory definitely shares a lot of ground with Ironbound and The Electric Age, but I thought there was a push for eccentricity there. Bitter Pill got back to the midpaced, menacing stuff that was lacking from the previous two, In the Name brought back their Manowar influences nicely, and managed to build on thematics vs straight ahead riff bludgeoning. Freedom Rings too had kind of an atypical song structure that was refreshing against the pretty standard thrasher set up that Ironbound and The Electric Age relied on. Overkill has a 4 1/2 minute thrasher down to a science, so much so that it's easy to write them off as one note. But those little shots of strangeness are what keeps me interested. Hopefully there will be some of that on this new one too.

Well, they haven't put out a noteworthy album in 20 something years so maybe there is a correlation. They got lucky hiring the Merritt /Cavanno (sp?) team after Gustafson left but after that the songwriting has been crap.

But as long as they keep cranking out the same basic style of stuff they used to do (minus the quality) every year then the accolades will keep coming.

^ You don't like the last three albums, but you also don't like the albums through the 11 years prior to that (presumably going back to "W.F.O.") where they WERE more experimental, tried different things, etc.

So, what exactly is it you'd like for them to do?

It's not a question of style. I just don't think the songwriting quality is very high. I don't care if their songs are fast or slow or if they try new styles. The songs are just so forgettable and uninspiring.

Even fans of these new albums often admit the songs are quite same-y.

Ironbound is among my favorite albums of all time. The following two were excellent as well, so I'm obviously looking forward to this one.

Also, each of the last three albums had one song with a short, Maiden-esque melody appearing for a moment ("Endless War", "Drop the Hammer Down", "Freedom Rings"). I'd actually like to hear Overkill do that a bit more often, those moments were really cool.

Did you get that from my reviews or figure it out on your own?


I noticed that exact same thing and hope Link does more of it.

It is probably going to be a lot like the last three Overkill albums, not that I think that is a bad thing. I do really enjoy the style they have been using on their last three albums, so I'm pretty excited for a new album from them.

More songs like Black Daze would be pretty sweet but I'm more or less expecting Ironbound 4 for better or worse.

Yes Black Daze rules. I enjoy those mid-tempo flesh-searers more than stuff like Bring Me the Night and Armorist.

I like the catchiness of "Old Wounds, New Scars" or "Bitter Pill"...then I only like the fast songs when it's like "Bring the Hammer Down" where it's hard hitting, catchy and angry. I also fucking loved the Nazareth cover from the last album with Tornillo and Blitz going back and forth.

Overkill are 3 for 3 with their 2010-onwards material, so I'm expecting nothing less than excellence.

However, I would prefer they actually do something more than Ironbound 4 for this one to impress me. Worst case scenario: they stick to the formula they've been going with for the past two albums and it still sounds good enough to not be considered bad. Best case scenario: they change things up and do it exceptionally well.

Definitely. More idiosyncrasy and atypical shots from left field are what the band needs to implement to make this one outdo the three before it. Immortalis was their worst album ever, and the stench from that is still lingering ever so slightly so they still need to exercise some caution.

I observed that on my own. And it's good to see that I'm not alone on this.



Now that you mention it, I actually wonder what a mix between Ironbound (or any of the last three, actually) and The Years of Decay would sound like.

The Years of Decay has always been an odd one structurally speaking, and it seems to be the "in" thing to shit on it lately. That's a shame...

I will never understand those who hate on Years of Decay. I loved the doom aspects intertwined within, and if they ever take that approach again, I'll be all over it.

I must be missing out on this phenomenon. That album is still generally considered their best, isn't it? If not that, then certainly the one most identified with the band.

Overkill is all about the live show, and might be at their peak right now in that regard taking into account performance and presentation. Blitz loves getting as many new songs into the set as feasibly possible. If that's just changing out a couple thrashers for a few others, and the end result is ultimately the same with the band keeping their motivation and intensity at a high level, then I'd prefer avoiding from straying too far from that formula, too.

Maybe, I've heard more people claim Horrorscope as their best, but its close between those two.

I love YOD as well. Probably my first or second favorite next to Ironbound. Horroscope's drums don't sound as good as YOD so it's automatically not going to be as good.

Horrorscopes drums are the best ever production wise. Tight, dry, snappy as fuck. Certainly better than TYoD, although TYoD sounds good too.

Horrorscope could easily be argued as the best thrash production in my opinion. The guitars are punchy and aggressive, the bass is honestly DD's best tone, Bobby sounds totally wicked, and the drums are godly. Very few albums in my thrash collection sound as good on full blast as Horrorscope does, in addition, it's one of my favorite thrash albums of all time; top 5 for sure.

The Years of Decay actually has iffy production in to my ears. It's a fantastic album for sure, but the guitars were a bit too bassy and lacking punch. Did they ever remaster that album? I've got all my Overkill in their original releases, but I'd be willing to pick up a remastered TYoD

Years has that stereotypical '80s thrash production. Terry Date did good job, as it really fits the jerky thrashing nature of Bobby G's riffs. It still sounds a bit thin compared to Horrorscope, though.

Terry Date is the best metal producer period. All his stuff is top-notch. Even the new SLAYER sounds amazing although the songs are garbage.

Nah, Terry Date's good but he's a bit too scooped 90s at times. Go fucking Bill Metoyer! I won't argue that all his stuff is amazing but I'd say that he's probably my favourite alongside Martin Birch.

Jesus, these guys never stop! Will probably buy as I really dig the last few, and I hope this will be another excuse to catch them live again.
I love Overkill live

I'd like them to record an Ironbound album with Under The Influence's production. The suffocating low end has got to go.

Yeah a more old school thrash tone would rule.