Review by Vladimir on April 16, 2023.

If you are die-hard thrash metal fan, especially US thrash metal, then you have definitely heard about Overkill. They’ve been one of the dominating bands in this genre for 43 years and they are still releasing albums. It’s been a while since I listened to Overkill, I missed out on some of their releases that came out after White Devil Armory since I lost interest in the band and thrash metal in general. As it was with Metallica, Overkill was also a band I saw performing live in 2015 and worshipped in my teens when thrash metal was all I could think of. So, I thought why not give them another chance and see how they are holding up. Overkill has recently released their official twentieth album Scorched on April 14th, via Nuclear Blast Records.

The opener is the title track 'Scorched' which starts with a nice hammer-on solo that reminded me a lot of Mercyful Fate. After the solo it quickly switches to the good old thrashing Overkill with palm-muted riffs, double-bass drums, DD Verni’s shredding bass and Bobby Blitz with his nasty and rotten singing voice which hasn’t aged at all. There are also some nice catchy and groovy riffs in a slower tempo, giving the song a dynamic style. The second track 'Goin’ Home' has some catchy melodies and punk rock style implemented on the song’s chorus, which I think has a nice uplifting spirit to it. The fourth track 'Twist Of The Nick' has an epic choir on the song’s bridge section before the guitar solo, which surprisingly sounds gothic and dark. The fifth track 'Wicked Place' is also a surprisingly interesting song, which has some wicked rock and roll riffs and even cellos in the song’s finale. What’s also interesting is the approach taken on the seventh track 'Fever', where Bobby’s melodic vocals with added reverb have some nice Ozzy Osbourne vibe to them, but the guitar riffs also seem to be going for a stonier Black Sabbath style. Looking at the overall musical output, it’s safe to say that Overkill still delivers some banger and groovy riffs which are tight and sharp, and so does Bobby Blitz deliver the goods with his signature singing voice. It seems that Overkill can’t get enough of doing what they’re best at, which I think deserves some form of appreciation since there aren’t so many bands that still know how to make good songs when sticking to their traditional musical formula. The sound production is similar to most of their releases from all the way back since Ironbound, which is quite high quality and loud thanks to the heavy sound of guitars, bass and drums, whereas Bobby’s vocals still maintain their high ground mix-wise.

It's incredible how Overkill, despite repeating their style for the last ten years, never failed in their own game. Scorched may not be anything special or spectacular other than just another average Overkill album, but at least it managed to give us very enjoyable and banger songs which would certainly please a fellow thrasher. Although I have missed out on a couple of their albums ever since the release of White Devil Armory, after coming back to check out Scorched, it seems like no time passed at all. Even though I am no longer deep into thrash metal as I once was, I can still say with certainty that Scorched is a pretty solid album. This album dropped the same day as Metallica’s "72 Seasons", which in my opinion scorches the living hell out of that album and puts it to shame for lacking any substance. Overkill remains very faithful to their sound, despite having some flawed releases in their catalog. They've been around since 1980 and they haven’t dropped their balls after so many years of decay and thrash metal. Despite their age, Overkill is still mean and green. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on April 9, 2023.

Hell yeah!!! April 2023 has some pretty cool shit going on in thrash metal. On one hand the German Deimos' Dawn, which I have already reviewed, but on the other comes Enforced and in this case Overkill from overseas in my stereo. Now the only question is whether you prefer it cozy with a massage chair and a cold beer (Overkill) or rather with a crowbar in the face and a schnapps for afterwards (Enforced). So let's start with the cozier part, Scorched.

First of all, the guys from Overkill with this album have their 20th (!) studio album, which I find quite impressive. Even more impressive, however, is that they have delivered nothing really bad since the very boring and soft From The Underground And Below from 1997, if you ignore the somewhat uninspired songs on ReliXIV. So that leaves only two somewhat weaker albums for the time being (the second weak, because not very powerful album is I Hear Black in my opinion). Now, of course, the question arises whether Overkill can continue to deliver on such a high level after the series of good-class albums.

I'll give the answer once, directly and in advance: yes, they can and they have even brought a few thick songwriting surprises. The groovy elements we know from the past are again a central element of the Overkill sound on Scorched. The NJ thrashers rely on a lot of hook lines, for example 'Goin Home' gets stuck directly in your head because of its highly melodic parts and the hooklines. 'Know Her Name' and 'Bag O Bones' are also typical Overkill thrash songs, whereby the chorus of 'Bag O Bones' comes across a bit bluesy and fits perfectly into the rather fast song despite the unusual arrangement. Blitz' voice sounds especially fresh and high here as it hasn't in a long time. On the other side, there are also the slower, again very bluesy, Black Sabbath-inspired songs that Overkill also liked to compose in the past. Thus, 'Wicked Place' (which surprises with a very casual guitar solo and orchestral final part and thus seems quite threatening and gloomy) and 'Fever' (which is almost a half ballad) are by far the slowest, but no less interesting, songs on the album.
'Heaven And Hell' is also a very interesting song, which somehow reminds me of Black Sabbath - oh wait, the song is called 'Won't Be Coming Back' and after 33 seconds Ronnie James Dio is also history again and Overkill celebrate here a firework of melodies, awesome riffs and good humor.

I have now heard the album umpteen times and find, if at all, only a few points of criticism. One or two songs are perhaps rather average Overkill products, but even that is still better than - and I'm going out on a limb here - what the band, which will release the ugliest metal cover (no, not Holy Moses!) at the same time on April 14, will present with their new album, I'm sure! But maybe I'm just writing bullshit because I am trapped in the matrix and will be digested from the machines soon.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 24, 2019.

Dirty little bastards can make excellent music, right? Alcoholocaust, doubtlessly among the aforementioned species, demonstrate their skills on their first full-length. It took only 14 years to release an album, very short period I would say. So, what... Necro Apocalipse Bestial has everything why I call them dirty little bastards, and this is, to avoid misunderstandings, a compliment. I would almost say one has to belong to this group, otherwise one cannot really play the type of metal that the band celebrates. Alcoholocaust, a typically stupid name for this kind of bastards, perform a mix of speed and thrash metal with a nice punk add-on. No single gram of fat, no frills, no gimmicks occur, just a somewhat pimply, mean and funny pile of dirt. Yes, it stinks, but black/thrash maniacs have fallen in love with exactly this kind of stench long ago, the older ones with the first two albums of a widely unknown band called... Venom, if I am not mistaken, and the younger ones with fearless formations such as Cruel Force, Condor or Aura Noir.

Alcoholocaust appreciate the one-riff-per-song approach. This means that they have to have a close eye on the quality of their riffs, but fortunately they do not show any signs of weakness in this respect. After the motto "either a riff is effective or we don't play it", the band showcases its talent for infectious tunes. All of them are reduced to the essentials and therefore it does not take long to have a clear picture concerning the band's abilities. The dudes do not impress with variety, they hate experiments and they see no sense in opulent song patterns. Some well-educated metal doctors will call this approach crummy and shoddy and they are somehow right: this is no high-end music. But it caresses my ears - admittedly, it caresses with sandpaper and glass wool and my ears are bleeding from thousand little wounds, however, it is fantastic. Get this album in an infinite loop and have a good time without end, and, almost better, without any other drugs, without alcohol and without Holocaust.

Production-wise, I can only say that the guitars have the perfect tone for this kind of metal. They sound sharp, biting and powerful. Thus, they are the perfect companion for the lead vocalist. His antsy barking does not lack fiendishness and some interspersed high-pitched screams add the final touch. He almost sounds like a combination of Angelripper and Schmier, pretty nice. But it gets even nicer. Needless to say, that the band does not appreciate slow or mid-paced rhythms. The drums do their work precisely and without any useless shenanigans. Both the tight interplay and the permanent pressure deserve applause, but that's not all. Sometimes a truly catchy and dynamic chorus comes to light ("Anti-Gótico"), while solos are rather the exception than the norm. This is the sound which is lost in big arenas, but it will drive the audience crazy in every small club until hectoliters of sweat are dripping from the ceiling. So, if your living room has rather the size of a club than of an arena, you know what you must do right now; get your copy. And this applies all the more if you are of the opinion that the new Toxic Holocaust album is surprisingly lame.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10