Overkill Delivers Another Jersey Thrash Masterpiece

We have a new State anthem! “Welcome to the Garden State,” on New Jersey thrashers Overkill’s new album, “The Wings of War,” is dirty Jersey, and Overkill music all wrapped neatly in four minutes of musical aggression and lyrical attitude.

Beginning with a snippet of conversation from “The Sopranos,” the track is off to the races with precision, punky thrash riffs that don’t let up. Singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth spits out lines about the Jersey shore, Jersey girls and “the best damn place in the U.S.A.” He also tells Billy from Philly to get the f**k out of my state and ends the song with a tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” The music video features highway signs from all over the State and has a gritty, Jersey production.

Subtlety is not a word in the Overkill vocabulary, and the band opens its 19thstudio effort by knocking down the door with the balls-to-the-wall thrasher “Last Man Standing” followed by the anthemic “Believe in the Fight.”

What makes Overkill so special is the consistency, quality and integrity of their work over the past 35 years. This is a band that has never veered from its path and fans know exactly what they’re getting with a new Overkill album: quality thrash marked by guitarists Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer’s spitfire riffs and solos; pounding, inventive rhythms courtesy of bassist D.D. Verni and new drummer Jason Bittner; and Ellsworth’s vitriolic shrieks. By the way, he can still hit every note. No downtuning needed here.

But the band doesn’t turn in repeat performances. There are nuances to each album, making each endeavor unique. On “The Wings of War,” new drummer Jason Bittner inspired the band to new heights. There also changes of pace, from hyper speed thrash to the groove of “Head of a Pin” to the atmospheric “Where Few Dare to Walk.”

Overall, “The Wings of War” is pure Overkill: yet another thrashterpiece that adds to the band’s reputation as a vital band – no matter the decade - that without fail always delivers the goods.

Overkill perform on Friday, May 10 at the Play Station Theater in New York City, with Life of Agony, Death Angel and Mothership opening.

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth.

What are your feelings on “The Wings of War” now that the album has been out a couple of months?

I’m happy with it. We didn't mail these tracks in. It was about going out there and saying, ‘we’ve got Bittner behind the kit and we can make something bombastic.’ He was with us for a year before we even recorded the album. I knew from the first live show that the chemistry had changed. It's a different precision. It was just a matter of whether we embraced it or discouraged it and we did embrace it. It's still an Overkill record but its got a different nuance to it. It’s not a white elephant to go from “Believe in the Fight” to “Head of a Pin.” It’s a cohesive record.

That’s one of the unique and great things about Overkill. You’re incredibly consistent and the fans know what they’re going to hear, but at the same time you don’t repeat yourselves.

I think every song to me for years has been different. What you notice from being on the inside as opposed to the outside is a markable difference. On this album there’s some traditional classic rock and heavy metal riffing and it becomes this bombastic thrash monster rooted in the 70s and 80s. But it still has the Overkill stamp on it.

“Welcome to the Garden State” is quintessential Overkill. Dirty Jersey in all its glory. Who came up with the song?

This is a D.D. Verni brainchild. We’ve always worn Jersey pride on our sleeve. New York is right to the East and we’ve always had that chip on our shoulder. The song is about what we did as kids; loading up the car with a cooler, going to the shore; saying ‘hey, get out of my state.’

The video for the song reflects that grit

I think that worked really well. We used a guy who works with Nuclear Blast. The idea was to fly us to L.A. to shoot the video and we said why don’t you just fly Tommy here, he’s a Jersey guy, he’ll get this. We’ve got all the exit signs, the Soprano house, the go-go bars and all of that in the video and the production of the band playing is very old school.

The album opens with “Last Man Standing,” which is a real statement of thrash intent.

We pick the opener as we're writing it. We know it before it's titled. We don’t knock on the door politely; we break it down and ask where the keg is. “Last Man Standing” had that personality to it. Then for the last song (“Hole in My Soul”) we always want to save something very strong for the end. You want to hit them hard coming in and hit them hard the same way going out.

What do you think has been the impact of the digital music age on Overkill?

When we released this album the first week our CD sales were decent but our downloads and streams were up 160 percent. I think that’s a great sign. The younger generation is more apt to download or stream so it shows you’re still connecting with one, or even two generations below us. It’s a good thing.

You can still hit the high notes and screeches after all these years? To what do you attribute your vocal strength?

I think if I overthink it I'll screw it up (laughs). It’s always been a healthy tool for me. In the last few years it’s been even stronger than the early 2000s, when I was still smoking. Stopping smoking later in my career gave me the opportunity to challenge myself. I’m singing cleaner but still have that hiss and rattlesnake approach.

What can fans expect on the upcoming tour? Any rarities?

I'm sure there's 5 or 6 that we haven’t played in years like “Bastard Nation” and “Deny the Cross.” We’re playing three songs from the new album, sometimes four. Playing New York City is always great. It’s a great bill, and it’s on a Friday night. It should be off the hook.