lista zespołów Thrash Metal Overkill (USA) Immortalis

"...smells just like Chaly get your gun..."
Once upon a time, there lived a scary little flying skull called Chaly. Through out the years he's been flying around in various shapes in colors... but eventually, even the little skulls do grow up... they can even get the gun and become...hm...like... immortal...

Hold on folks, here comes the Wrecking Crew!

Although never proclaimed one of "The Great Four of Thrash", Overkill has been wrecking the (thrash) metal scene for almost 30 years in spite of some crucial line-up changes. Whether some might accept it or some might not, but Overkill has been the first band to set up the basis of the building called thrash metal.
Back in 1980, some guys got together and played punk/classic rock covers... Later on, they recruited two new guitar players and started writing their own songs, combining both punk and classic rock powers and forming very intensive, distorted and fast sound adopted by many thrash bands in the years to come.
It wasn't only the sound that distinguished Overkill – Bobby Ellsworth's very specific high-pitched and screaming voice did it too. Some people were very annoyed by it and yet again, some people loved it. That's why Overkill has become a kind of band one may either love it or hate it – and there's nothing in between.
Over the years, due to the guitar player and drummer changes, Overkill's initial sound altered to some extent, or to be more precise, it got improved. And yes, Bobby's voice got improved too...
With the arrival of Dave Linsk on guitars and his first album with the band - "Bloodletting" and with the smashing Tim Mallare's drumming backup, Overkill entered a new phase – the sound became stronger, firmer, powerful... The latest change in the band is the arrival of ex-Hades drummer Ron Lipnicki and along side with him, Bobby Ellsworth, Dave Linsk, D.D. Verni and Derek Tailer released, well not the best but surely very interesting album in their career – Immortalis (or Immortal15 as it can be spelt in the modern argot language, following a certain model started with KillBox 13 and ReliXIV).

"...angel on my shoulder...devil in my pocket..."
Immortalis is not an album you'd fall in love "on the first date" – I must admit, I've been listening to it for almost three weeks before I've got really into it. The first single taken off the album was the song "Skull and Bones" featuring Lamb of God vocalist Randall Blythe – I've never been a fan of LOG so I've got a bit disappointed with the track and especially with the part where Bobby lowers his high voice in order to following Randall's deep growls. But, as I've said earlier, this album is not "a first date crush" so after very careful listening to it, all of my senses got alarmed: damn, this doesn't sound all that bad. It can be noticed throughout the album Bobby's voice sounds quite different comparing to the previous releases – it is lower than it used to be. Then again, the whole album sounds different comparing to the previous ones – Ron Lipnicki's joining the Wrecking Crew has brought a lot of explosive drumming into the Overkill's music, sort of drumming band has never had before even with Tim Mallare onboard. It's more or less covering all of the instruments including Bobby's voice. On the other hand, though, Dave Linsk role must not be diminished – in fact, the solos he's throwing are an equal rival to Ron's drumming. And that's how the whole album sounds like – constant clashing of drums and guitars, connected with Bobby's waving high/low voice "...your enemies, your demons scream to get out..."
At the end of their first album "Feel the Fire", there was a backward message Bobby recorded: "There's no message here, you're going to ruin your needle asshole..." which made me to think a bit more about Immortalis... does this album carry any kind of message? Does the title itself, Immortalis, carry any kind of message? If you are an old fan, you'll understand and if you've never been, maybe it's the high time to get to know Overkill... and yes, the title does carry the message – genuine values can never die "...I'll take you on the lifetime ride .... It's my hellish pride..."