Adjust to Darkness

It seems to me that a preponderance of Norwegian thrash bands tend to not play pure or classic thrash, but rather to mix it with black and death metal. Overthrow seems to fit in the latter category, replete with an album cover that communicates death and not thrash.

On Spotify, all the Overthrow bands including the Canadian one have been lumped together, but Adjust to Darkness was the only full-length by these guys. (The guitarists later went on to an indie band Starpalace.) They were 17-18 years old at the time of releasing this - not that I take it too much into account when judging the quality, but technically speaking, there sure aren't many drawbacks on this album. Each instrument is proficiently played and also shines through well enough in the mix.

The vocals are actually bordering between death metal and metalcore. There are also signs of other genres; the track "Let Them Fall" is closer to scandirock, associated with bands like Turbonegro; rock-infused punk with a "wall of sound" recording style.

The main problem with this album is its falling between several chairs. One might say a lack of identity, since the band's technical skills alone are not enough to make them stand out. The album goes for the "dark" approach, hence it's obviously not fun to listen to like Exodus or the party thrash of the 200s. At the same time the recording is not extreme enough to really sound "evil" or menacing. The vocals could have been the key to push the band over the limit, underlining or enhancing an extreme message. Exhorder pulls this off brilliantly on "Slaughter in the Vatican" with their lyrics being violent both in content and delivery. On Adjust to Darkness, though, I hear a lot of screaming but not anything that sounds convincing. I have no idea what Overthrow tries to convey on, say, "Octoskulls", and after the listening is done I don't care either.