Overkill (band)
From Academic Kids
Overkill is one of the first Thrash Metal bands, formed in the early 1980s in New Jersey (but often attributed to New York City), and very active ever since.
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History
Early Days
They were formed in New Jersey when a previous D.D. Verni/Rat Skates (real names: Carlos Verni and Lee Kundrat) project, a punk band called The Lubricunts, broke up in 1980. (There's a picture of the Lubricunts demo cover in the "Wrecking Your Neck" booklet.) D.D. quickly wanted to form a new band, so he put out an ad which was answered by vocalist Bobby Ellsworth. He was also a bass player at the time, but in the new band he would concentrate solely on vocals. He brought with him a guitarist from his old band (a punk/classic rock cover band), whose name is forgotten. After rejecting several names, including Virgin Killer, this new band finally settled on Overkill, naming themselves after a Motörhead album.
Early covers (especially those done under the Virgin Killer name in the very very early days) were punk songs for the most part, including selections by The Ramones, and The Dead Boys. By 1980, they had recruited two guitarists (names forgotten over time) and the setlist included songs by Motörhead ('Overkill', half of the "Ace Of Spades" album, and others), Judas Priest ('Tyrant' was their closer for a while), and later Iron Maiden and Riot, as well as a smattering of punk covers, which were played with extra distortion, intensity, and concentration on riffs, thus marking Overkill as one of the first Thrash bands.
In 1981, Dan Spitz (later of Anthrax) left the band and Rich Conte entered, along with Bobby Gustafson. At this point, they started writing originals, including 'Grave Robbers' (later renamed to 'Raise The Dead'), 'Overkill', and 'Unleash The Beast (Within)'. These are (arguably) the first Thrash Metal originals, predating James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner's 'Hit The Lights' by several months.
More originals would follow, including 'Death Rider' (1981) and 'Rotten To The Core' (1982) - somewhere around this time Rich left and Bobby Gustafson remained the sole guitarist. The band became a staple at New York and New Jersey clubs around 1982, and D.D. gave Bobby Ellsworth the name "Blitz" due to his over-the-top lifestyle. (It actually earned Bobby an ejection from the band for a few days in 1983.) Around this time, the green logo was adopted - it was specifically chosen to stand out on a poster with lots of red logos of other bands on the bill.
Classic era with Bobby Gustafson
Blitz, Verni, Gustafson and Skates made up the now classic "original line-up" of Overkill that released the "Power In Black" demo tape in 1984 that made as much impact in the underground as tapes by up-and-coming Bay Area Thrash bands like Exodus. The tape got them two compilation appearances ('Feel The Fire' on "New York Metal '84" and 'Death Rider' on volume V of the legendary "Metal Massacre" series), as well as a record deal with Azra/Iron Works Records. This deal resulted in the 1984 four track EP "Overkill" (that is maybe even better known as the "Rotten To The Core" EP, after the first song on it) that secured Overkill a position at the very front of the fledgling Thrash Metal movement. Though it is said that the band never saw any money for that release, it spread their name very well - and it got them the attention of Jon Zazula, the owner of Megaforce Records, one of the Metal record labels at the time. Megaforce gave Overkill a new record contract and put out their debut full length album "Feel The Fire" in 1985; a very aggressive and somewhat Motörhead-ish affair. That record cemented the band's position as one of the driving forces of east coast Metal (besides Anthrax) and soon got them on their first big out-of-area tours, first as support for Megadeth's "Peace Sells" US tour and later in Europe, opening for Helloween.
The year 1987 marked the release of Overkill's sophomore album "Taking Over", the first to be released by Megaforce in cooperation with the major label Atlantic Records. The album featured better song writing and production than its predecessor and had a somewhat more epic style, which is probably why it is very often regarded as their best release ever. The anthemic 'In Union We Stand' was chosen for the first Overkill video clip, to promote the band through the booming new medium of music television. A European tour with Anthrax and Agent Steel followed in the same year. Still in 1987, the "!!!Fuck You!!!" EP was released, consisting of a studio recording of 'Fuck You' (a cover version, originally by the Subhumans) as well as a handful of live tracks recorded earlier that year in Cleveland. 1987 also saw the first "original" member leaving; Rat Skates couldn't cope with life on the road in the length of time. He was was replaced by Mark Archibole for a few gigs, and then on a permanent basis Sid Falck, previously of Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone. (Bobby Blitz once said that the only former member he misses is co-founder Rat Skates.)
Trying not to lose any time and momentum, Overkill released the follow-up to "Taking Over" right the next year. Once again produced by Alex Perialas, "Under The Influence" was a lot more raw and thrashy, lacking most of the grand and epic atmosphere of its predecessor and with a rather dry and brittle sound, and is often regarded as a snapshot and a step backwards for the band. With 'Hello From The Gutter', this third album contains at least one Overkill all-time classic nonetheless; a very catchy tune that was also used for the next video clip. Overkill constantly kept touring all over the world, furthering their reputation as one of the most active Metal live acts, and a very good one too.
The band continued to keep their high pace and put out "The Years Of Decay" in 1989, recorded with producer Terry Date and mixing the raw and unpolished approach of "Under The Influence" with complex song structures and epic elements (though very different from the insouciant, more fantasy-like attitude that was typical for early Metal), resulting in a much more serious atmosphere and some rather long songs, including the first Overkill track with balladesque elements in the form of the nine-minute title track. For a video, one of the faster and catchier tracks was selected, making 'Elimination' the most popular song off the album, so that it would still be played live every night 15 years later. Live support for "The Years Of Decay" took place in part with a tour called "Dawn Of The Decade" together with label mates Testament.
Gant/Cannavino years
The next line-up change occured in 1990; it is said that the egos of Verni and Gustafson clashed and Blitz had to decide with which of the two he wanted to continue the band. The result was Gustafson's departure, with the remaining members adding two new guitarists to the band; Rob Cannavino had been Gustafson's guitar tech, and Merritt Gant came from New Jersey thrashers Faith Or Fear. The 'new' Overkill recorded a fifth album called "Horrorscope", again with Terry Date, to be released in 1991. The album saw the band abandoning all epic elements and eventually turning fully towards Thrash, a bit similar maybe to bands such as later-period Exodus. "Horrorscope" is often regarded as the best Overkill album after "Taking Over" and "Feel The Fire" and indeed is a very consistent and energetic record that doesn't show any signs of the recent departure of one of the band's main song writers. The change in style was also reflected by the song choice for the 'mandatory' video clip - the somewhat eerie and creepy album title track is completely different from the catchy "Heavy Metal" type of songs that had been selected from the earlier albums. When not in the studio, Overkill were still almost constantly touring and always drawing decent crowds, whether they had a recent album to support or not.
In 1992, during the touring phase for "Horrorscope", Sid Falck left the band and was replaced by M.O.D. drummer Tim Mallare, with whom the 1993 album "I Hear Black" was recorded. Produced by Alex Perialas, this record (the first one released directly through Atlantic Records) once again presented a change in style, from the up-tempo Thrash of "Horrorscope" to a more groovy, Black Sabbath and Blues influenced sound. The album overall seems somewhat directionless, which is often attributed to the fact that so many different song writers were involved; this was probably a main reason for Verni and Ellsworth to handle most of the song writing themselves on subsequent albums, with only minor contributions from the other members. A video was shot for 'Spiritual Void' off "I Hear Black". The European leg of the 1993 "World Of Hurt Tour" featured Savatage and Non-Fiction as support acts.
Overkill's self-produced seventh album "W.F.O." (which stands for "Wide Fuckin' Open") was released in September 1994 and seemed like an answer to the criticism that "I Hear Black" had received; it presented fast, heads-down old-school Thrash Metal without any of the experiments that had been undertaken on the previous record. The video clip was 'Fast Junkie', and supporting Overkill's European tour in the fall were Jag Panzer and Massacra. After "W.F.O.", Overkill lost their record deal with Atlantic Records (which they were happy about, since they felt they weren't getting enough attention from the label) and were then signed to different companies for different parts of the world. A March 1995 show, once again in Cleveland, Ohio, was recorded for Overkill's first full-length live album, a 100-minute double CD that was released in late April of the same year; the first pressing featured a bonus CD containing the "Overkill" EP that had not been officially available for about ten years. A video clip for the song 'Bastard Nation' off the live album was also released.
Comeau/Marino albums
Later in 1995, both guitarists left the band; Rob Cannavino wanted to become a motorcycle racer, and Merritt Gant wanted to have more time for his family. To everyone's surprise, Overkill then hired Joe Comeau, formerly of Liege Lord, where he had been the lead singer; Comeau brought along former Anvil guitarist Sebastian Marino, with whom he had a band project called Ramrod (which never really took off). The new line-up recorded a new studio album called "The Killing Kind", again self-produced and mixed by Chris Tsangarides (who ist most famous for producing Judas Priest's legendary "Painkiller" album), which was released in early 1996. While of course staying within the Thrash genre, the album was a drastic departure from its predecessor's traditional Speed Metal style and featured many modern elements, in part borrowed from other Metal related styles such as Hardcore, while vocally some influences where even drawn from outside the Rock and Metal genres. Also, since Comeau originally was a singer, backing vocals on this and subsequent albums were more elaborate and frequent than before, adding another new element to the band's sound. Press response to "The Killing Kind" was very positive, but the album is controversially disputed among the band's audience, because the more "old school" oriented fans consider it too modern and atypical. Overkill toured Europe twice in support of this album; first in February 1996 with Megora and Accu§er, and then again in November with Anvil and Stahlhammer. In summer 1996, Overkill appeared on Volume 2 of Century Media's "Legends Of Metal - A Tribute To Judas Priest" compilation, to which they contributed 'Tyrant', heavily adapted to the band's own style.
In summer 1997, the classic "!!!Fuck You!!!" EP, which had been unavailable for some years, was reissued together with the "Overkill" debut EP and two live tracks from a 1990 promo single, on a CD called "!!!Fuck You!!! And Then Some". October of the same year saw the release of the ninth regular Overkill studio album, titled "From The Underground And Below". This record retained some of the modern influences from "The Killing Kind", but had a lot more in common with the three albums before that, and so was a much more typical Overkill album. Reportedly a video for the track 'Long Time Dyin'' was shot, but since TV stations didn't care at all about traditional Metal at the time, this has probably not been shown very often. The European tour in support of the album took place in May 1998, with Nevermore, Angel Dust and Nocturnal Rites as support bands.
Around the same time, Blitz was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of nose cancer and underwent surgery in time to be fully healed. After his recovery, the band started work on their tenth, self-produced album, released in February 1999 under the title "Necroshine" (this actually made Overkill the very first Thrash Metal band ever to release ten full-length studio albums; other members of the first Thrash Metal wave from the mid-1980s, such as Sodom or Kreator would not achieve this until over two years later). While once again quite different from the previous records and musically not precisely "classic" Overkill, and vocally even more experimental than "The Killing Kind", the album was very compact and coherent and generally very well received by both the press and the fans.
Linsk/Tailer albums
Soon after the album's release, Sebastian Marino was forced to leave Overkill because he didn't make enough money to provide for his family. He was quickly replaced by someone called Dave Linsk (real name David Polinski; he reportedly had the very first Jackson King V built for him by the Jackson Custom Shop in the 1980s) from a New Jersey Hardcore/Thrash Metal band called Anger On Anger, who almost immediately went on tour with the band. A two-week European trip in June was arranged to fill the gap between appearances at the Dynamo and With Full Force festivals. September 1999 saw the release of "Coverkill", an album consisting entirely of cover versions from bands that were especially influential to Overkill in their early days, such as Black Sabbath (featured no less than three times), Kiss, Motörhead or the Ramones, recorded throughout the band's career. Some of those tracks had been previously available on compilations (such as the aforementioned Judas Priest track) or as Japanese bonus tracks, but others had been shelved for years (the earliest recording was from the "Under The Influence" sessions) or were recorded immediately prior to the album's release. A full European tour in support of both "Necroshine" and "Coverkill" took place in February 2000 as a co-headlining event with Canadian Thrashers Annihilator, with the German band Dew-Scented in the opening slot.
During that tour, Annihilator once again fired their singer Randy Rampage due to his rude behavior, and a few months later, Joe Comeau was confirmed as his replacement, effectively ending his involvement in Overkill. The band recorded the follow-up to "Necroshine" as a four piece; "Bloodletting", released early in the fall of 2000, was produced by the band and mixed once again by Colin Richardson and turned out to be a very old-school, straight-ahead Thrash Metal affair with a few nods to its predecessors, mainly concerning contemporary groove elements. November of the same year saw the band touring Europe as a special guest of Halford's "Resurrection" world tour, where they were given a full hour of playing time. Since Overkill had not found a new second guitarist yet, Joe Comeau took his former position one more time during that tour. For the last couple of shows, the band also utilized another session musician - D.D. Verni's wife was about to give birth to their second child and was replaced for those few dates by Derek "The Skull" Tailer, the bass player in Dee Snider's band S.M.F. - these were probably the only Overkill shows ever that took place without Verni. In early 2001, Tailer was announced as a permanent member of Overkill, although not on bass guitar, but filling the vacant spot on guitars.
Some time passed until next Overkill release, which came out in summer 2002 as "Wrecking Everything - Live", their second full-length live album, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and containing only songs that had not been on "Wrecking Your Neck" - some simply because they were released on later albums, but also a few early classics from albums such as "Taking Over" and "Under The Influence". The same show was used for Overkill's first ever DVD, "Wrecking Everything - An Evening In Asbury Park", released around the same time (several months later in Europe). The European tour in June 2002, supporting both "Bloodletting" and "Wrecking Everything" saw Blaze and Wicked Mystic opening up for Overkill. During the second to last show of the tour in Nuremburg, Germany, Blitz suffered a stroke on stage, and for a few days, the rumors ranged from Blitz being in a coma or being permanently partially paralyzed to him even having died. None of that was true, however; as it turned out, the stroke was just minor and had no lasting consequences (as well as no cause that could be determined by the doctors).
Overkill entered the studio in late 2002 to record their next studio album; produced by the band and Colin Richardson and released in March 2003, "Killbox 13" (it actually was only their twelfth regular studio album, but the "Overkill" EP was also counted to achieve the number 13) received high critical acclaim as combining the "new" Overkill with their raw early style as presented on the debut album "Feel The Fire". Touring for the album included a number of European festivals during the summer; a full European tour followed in November with Seven Witches and After All - without Derek Tailer, who was absent for undisclosed reasons. Nobody was hired to fill in for him, so Overkill toured as a four-piece for the first time since 1990. Tailer was still a full member of the band, however.
In late 2004, after a Japanese tour with Death Angel and Flotsam & Jetsam, the band started working on another record in D.D. Verni's own recording studio; the album was produced and mixed by the band themselves, which is clearly audible on "ReliXIV", released in March 2005 - sound wise, the album cannot keep up with its predecessors. Musically, it is a continuation of "Killbox 13", with some more diversity. Overkill toured the eastern US in April, and just before they went on a European tour in May, it was announced that Tim Mallare would not take part in this tour; replacing him was former Hades drummer Ron Lipnicki. A few weeks later, it became clear that Mallare had left the band for good and Lipnicki was his permanent replacement.
As of summer 2005, Overkill is one of the very few bands that started in the heyday of Heavy Metal in the early 1980s and have constantly been touring and releasing albums for over 20 years without ever really going on hiatus. Most of the summer will be spent on the road in Europe playing the big summer festivals before returning to America and touring the west of the United States as well as Canada.
Discography
- Power In Black (1984, demo)
- Overkill (1984, EP)
- Feel The Fire (1985)
- Taking Over (1987)
- !!!Fuck You!!! (1987, EP)
- Under The Influence (1988)
- The Years Of Decay (1989)
- Horrorscope (1991)
- I Hear Black (1993)
- W.F.O. (1994)
- Wrecking Your Neck (1995, live)
- The Killing Kind (1996)
- !!!Fuck You!!! And Then Some (1997, reissue)
- From The Underground And Below (1997)
- Necroshine (1999)
- Coverkill (1999, covers)
- Bloodletting (2000)
- Wrecking Everything (2002, live)
- Killbox 13 (2003)
- ReliXIV (2005)
See also
- Official OVERKILL Site (http://www.wreckingcrew.com/)
- Fast Junkie: OVERKILL Fansite/Forum (http://groups.msn.com/fastjunkie/)
