New OVERKILL album - "The Electric Age"

I think selling out and "trying to stay relevant" is not exactly the same thing. Record labels were dropping metal bands like hot potatoes all over the place, it became an "adapt to survive" philosophy. So I really can't blame many of these bands for trying to remain relevant in a music market that was completely unfriendly to anything even remotely "80s" in conception.

Thankfully, the 90s came to an end and music has been trying to slowly claw itself out of that abyss ever since.

there was a time when thrash was the flavor of the month too, just sayin'

To my ears, at least Overkill, Slayer and Megadeth stil sounded good when they "strayed" from what had originally brought them attention.

mc666 wrote:

they ventured into groove metal just like many of the others. not saying it was bad, just saying...

Yeah, they definitely experimented in the mid-90s.

Overkill, like other East coast thrash bands, always kept the hardcore punk/crossover influences turned up to 11. I think this gave them more room to experiment with their sound.

James B. wrote:

there was a time when thrash was the flavor of the month too, just sayin'

To my ears, at least Overkill, Slayer and Megadeth stil sounded good when they "strayed" from what had originally brought them attention.

I thought Slayer's "Undisputed Attitude" and "Diabolous" were horrible

Megadeth's "Risk" was downright appalling , "Cryptic" was sub-par

All of those major players had at least one or a couple of horrible albums

I can't think of None for Overkill, they're like Thrash Metal's answer to the Scorpions, extremely prolific but with very high success rate

I haven't liked Overkill very much since Horrorscope. Album after album of half-thrash and groove.Then the "reverse sellout" with Ironbound. Blitz is a nice guy, having met him in 1992.
When DD got off the bus, he blew off two autograph seekers with a terse "Later.", while Blitz was signing stuff right away. I respect Overkill for their prolific output and their place in the metal scene. It's my opinion however, they've jumped the shark and sucked for a long time now,plus Blitz's voice is pretty much shot.

When we saw them, it wasn't DD who blew everyone off, but Derek Taylor. He did the same thing you said DD did: "Later."
I think sometimes they just kind of get burnt out on the constant signing.

The rest of the guys were totally cool, letting us take pics with them, and everything, but Derek just stayed aloof, on his cell phone most of the time.

EmoElmo wrote:

James B. wrote:

there was a time when thrash was the flavor of the month too, just sayin'

To my ears, at least Overkill, Slayer and Megadeth stil sounded good when they "strayed" from what had originally brought them attention.

I thought Slayer's "Undisputed Attitude" and "Diabolous" were horrible

Megadeth's "Risk" was downright appalling , "Cryptic" was sub-par

All of those major players had at least one or a couple of horrible albums

I can't think of None for Overkill, they're like Thrash Metal's answer to the Scorpions, extremely prolific but with very high success rate

Don't recall saying everything was "golden"

Regardless of personal opinion regarding recorded output. All of these bands brought it onstage and still bring it to this very day. Perhaps I should've been more specific ? Although I was refering to both myself.

EmoElmo wrote:

James B. wrote:

there was a time when thrash was the flavor of the month too, just sayin'

To my ears, at least Overkill, Slayer and Megadeth stil sounded good when they "strayed" from what had originally brought them attention.

I thought Slayer's "Undisputed Attitude" and "Diabolous" were horrible

Megadeth's "Risk" was downright appalling , "Cryptic" was sub-par

All of those major players had at least one or a couple of horrible albums

I can't think of None for Overkill, they're like Thrash Metal's answer to the Scorpions, extremely prolific but with very high success rate

Undisputed Attitude is a covers album. Diabolus in Musica, in my opinion, is extremely underrated. Certainly the lead-off single, "Stain of Mind," was a different kind of song for the band, but the album overall isn't so drastic a change. More importantly, it's damn good.

Eyesore wrote:

EmoElmo wrote:

James B. wrote:

there was a time when thrash was the flavor of the month too, just sayin'

To my ears, at least Overkill, Slayer and Megadeth stil sounded good when they "strayed" from what had originally brought them attention.

I thought Slayer's "Undisputed Attitude" and "Diabolous" were horrible

Megadeth's "Risk" was downright appalling , "Cryptic" was sub-par

All of those major players had at least one or a couple of horrible albums

I can't think of None for Overkill, they're like Thrash Metal's answer to the Scorpions, extremely prolific but with very high success rate

Undisputed Attitude is a covers album. Diabolus in Musica, in my opinion, is extremely underrated. Certainly the lead-off single, "Stain of Mind," was a different kind of song for the band, but the album overall isn't so drastic a change. More importantly, it's damn good.

Diabolus in Musica is like Overkill's "I Hear Black" album. Both are a lot better than they get credit for.

Quote :

Blitz's voice is pretty much shot.

Maybe. But he never really was known for his singing skills anyway. He's all about attitude.

Overkill "sold out?" When did that happen? I always viewed them as one of the stalwarts that kept it heavy in the abysmal 90s. I guess that I Hear Black is a bit more commercial and they employed some groove elements but I thought they did that very well. I consider them the thrash equivalent of Saxon - a band that consistently cranks out quality and tours regularly.

Overkill has never "sold out". They're like the Motorhead of thrash.

Diablos In Musica sounds like Slayer, period. Plus you can actually hear the bass on that record...a nice change of pace. It's an underrated album to be sure. It's not as "fast" as the previous studio album, but it's incredibly heavy...which I what I like about them anyway.

Fans of metal, especially the extreme varieties are petrified of change, scared to death of it. As soon as a band tries anything even remotely outside of their previous output...the screams of "sell out" emerge. Why this mindset exists I have never understood and probably never will.

S.D. wrote:

Diablos In Musica sounds like Slayer, period.

damn straight

S.D. wrote:

It's not as "fast" as the previous studio album, but it's incredibly heavy...which I what I like about them anyway.

it's not the first time Slayer slowed it down either. remember how South of Heaven sounded after Reign in Blood? it's the exact same thing to my ears.

mc666 wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Diablos In Musica sounds like Slayer, period.

damn straight

S.D. wrote:

It's not as "fast" as the previous studio album, but it's incredibly heavy...which I what I like about them anyway.

it's not the first time Slayer slowed it down either. remember how South of Heaven sounded after Reign in Blood? it's the exact same thing to my ears.

I agree completely, South Of Heaven is one of my very favorites and I consider Diablos In Musica to be a sister album.

"Diabolas" is an underrated album and very good. Great production too. It was probably a grower for many folks.

Can't stand GHUA though. I think it's because Hanneman is such a better songwriter than King and didn't do as much on that album. And the production is terrible.

Overkill went groove-metal for one and also went the 2 guitar route (like their heroes METALLICA), when it was the trendy thing to do. This is also Rat Skates' view, BTW. They didn't go as commercial as METALLICA or MEGADETH only because there would be no point in doing so. No one wants to hear Blitz sing a ballad like "Nothing Else Matters" or wants techno remixes of their tunes. They sold out the best that they could at the time. Not to mention all the cover albums, live albums, etc.

Again, not an insult. Selling out is not always a bad thing. These bands probably had to do it just so they could keep going, stay signed, and play shows.

My go-to band when trying to show what selling out actually is, is Sugar Ray.

From the first album:



From their second album:

[ see video for "Fly," which I won't post here for your benefit ]

Their first album was heavy, punky, alt-rock with a bit of metal influence. As was most of their second album. Obviously that second video there was a huge hit. Guess what every album sounded like after that? Acoustic pop, just like "Fly."

That, in my opinion, is selling out. I mean, these guys covered Black Flag and Minor Threat and Ted Nugent in the early days! There was no natural shift in style, it wasn't even a slight shift like many of the bands in the 90s attempted; Sugar Ray did a 180º spin and just replicated the same hit-making sound over four more albums.

Few bands really sell out. Typically it's just baseless fan accusations.

metalheaded wrote:

When we saw them, it wasn't DD who blew everyone off, but Derek Taylor. He did the same thing you said DD did: "Later."
I think sometimes they just kind of get burnt out on the constant signing.

The rest of the guys were totally cool, letting us take pics with them, and everything, but Derek just stayed aloof, on his cell phone most of the time.

At least that sounds like a reason why: something going on that had to be taken care of? I'm sure next time will be totally different.

I LOVE Overkill and all of their albums! I can't wait to add this to the collection!!!

criss3o wrote:

I LOVE Overkill and all of their albums! I can't wait to add this to the collection!!!

I'm not into Overkill but good to see you here Criss!!!

Thanx ToHo! It's good to be seen here!!!

Ironbound was spectacular. Cant wait!

The album 'leak' is out for those who want to preview this album, man what can I say, PRETTY DARN GOOD! I can describe the sound as A mix between 'Killing Kind' and 'Horrorscope'

On the metal channel of my cable's music selection (which plays mostly nu-metal and metalcore) played the first single from the new album. Of course, they had the name wrong. The song title was correct but the band title was NOT overkill (I don't remember what name they did have for it).