Overkill

Paladin – Ascension Review

By Eldritch Elitist on May 17, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Power Metal, Prosthetic Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal, 140 comments

“In my early days of metal fandom, there was a period of roughly two years – spanning from the time I stumbled upon DragonForce,’s Inhuman Rampage to when I began exploring Darkthrone’s discography – where I listened to nothing except for power metal and thrash. During this period, as I worked on my sloppy renditions of “Eagle Fly Free” and “Battery” on a cheap Yamaha electric guitar my parents picked up at a department store, I had an epiphany: why the fuck hasn’t anyone mashed up the two best genres in the world?” One mash, coming up!

Overkill – The Wings of War Review

By Steel Druhm on February 19, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 69 comments

“Overkill’s ethos is overkill. It always has been. Be it their hyperactively punked out thrash or their New Jersey thug demeanor, everything with them is set to 12. On their 19th goddamn album, The Wings of War, little has changed. They’re still the scuzzy, bare knuckles brawlers from the Garden State who you would cross the street to avoid, and they deliver yet another overdose of hi-octane piss and vinegar-addled speed and ne’er-do-well attitude.” Fists up, head down.

Hellnite – Midnight Terrors Review

By Treble Yell on February 17, 2019 in Hardcore, Mexican Metal, Reviews, Sliptrick Records, Thrash Metal, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, 32 comments

“During their halcyon years Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax loomed large over the thrash landscape, basking in success and spawning a fanbase so large it defied a horizon. But there existed a tier below the A and B-listers, bands like Allegiance, Heathen and Xentrix who eked out a modest existence built on solid albums supported by a coterie of eager followers. This is not a vein you’d expect a modern thrash band to mine for inspiration, yet that is exactly where Hellnite have chosen to strike their pickaxe with their debut album, Midnight Terrors.” Mine the medium.

Sad Eyes – vIV0 Review

By Angry Metal Guy on December 9, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Necromance Records, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Death Metal, 22 comments

“As a wee lad, I met a guy at camp who was quite the contortionist. He delighted in the responses his disconcerting levels of flexibility granted him, basking in the wide-eyed, slack-jawed and mildly disgusted attention of his peers. However, his flexibility never garnered him any true friends. He was a spectacle, an object of attention, nothing more. Hailing from Spain, one-man death metal project Sad Eyes, helmed by Santi Gzlez, seeks to turn his project into a musical contortion of sorts, assembling an album with a list of collaborators longer than I’ve had friends.” Death metal camp is rough.

Metal Church – Damned if You Do Review

By Steel Druhm on December 7, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Heavy Metal, Rat Pak Records, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 54 comments

“Metal Church is one of those hard working second-tier metal acts that experienced moments of first-tier greatness over a lengthy career, but never crossed over to the promised land. Their debut is still one of my favorite thrash albums, and Blessing in Disguise probably makes my desert island top 20. I supported them over the decades through numerous line-up changes, but the albums with the late great David Wayne and then Mike Howe on vocals truly captured my Steely heart. When Mr. Howe returned after 20 years in limbo for 2016’s XI opus, I was thrilled. It was an impressive reunion outing too, sounding like the band I loved throughout the 80s and 90s. Now we get Damned if You Do, the all important second post-reunion release.” Brawl at Olde Church.

Gama Bomb – Speed Between the Lines Review

By Huck N Roll on October 11, 2018 in 2018, AFM Records, Irish Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 36 comments

“If you read lists of what women find attractive in men, Number Three is always a sense of humor. Since most men (including myself) will never have Numbers One or Two, this becomes a very important trait. Enter Gama Bomb, an Irish thrash band that loves to sing about Kurt Russell and Robocop. Their nerdy sense of humor has been a beacon on the thrash scene since their 2005 debut, Survival of the Fastest, and in some ways, they could be considered the AC/DC of thrash.” Run for our love!

Antipeewee – Infected by Evil Review

By Eldritch Elitist on July 7, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, 68 comments

“Our resident Gungan evangelist recently posited a view in the AMG Slack group that has had me thinking a lot about why I don’t listen to a lot of straight thrash metal anymore. His view that the genre feels invalidated by Metallica’s best records, though initially seeming blasphemous, eventually became gospel to my ears. I’d personally swap Metallica for Kreator, but in essence, I’m completely in agreement with this stance; beyond notable experimental exceptions like Skeletonwitch or Vektor, modern thrash metal in its base form is inherently shallow, with bands failing almost universally to validate their existence among the classic acts. But sometimes – sometimes – everything just falls into place.” Thrash infection.

No Amnesty – Psychopathy Review

By Dr. Wvrm on November 17, 2017 in 2017, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Thrash Metal, Xtreem Music, Thrash Metal, 45 comments

“If you ever wanted to hear nineteen-eighty-pick-a-year aped by some little shits who never lived through Cliff Burton-‘tallica, 2017 delivered in spades. Barcelona’s young bucks No Amnesty should have been getting their braces off at 15, not hitting the stage. Now older, wiser, and still ineligible for a beer in the US, the world is their öyster.” Thrash knows no age of consent.

Vulture – The Guillotine Review

By Treble Yell on August 24, 2017 in 2017, German Metal, High Roller Records, Reviews, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 15 comments

“From the slightly out of focus and over-exposed band photos to the chrome plated logo that wouldn’t be out of place adorning the packaging of a bootleg Thundercats toy, Vulture have gone to great lengths to make it seem like they’ve been around for decades. Even the (rather excellent) album art has been carefully rendered to deceive, with faint nicks and scratches baked in to mimic a record that’s been manhandled and left in a crate for aeons.” Faux-olde.

Lich King – The Omniclasm Review

By Dr. Wvrm on April 18, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 53 comments

“I love Lich King. If I had any musical talent, I’d beg them for an audition. I’ve dabbled with the idea of thrash-covering Sheer Heart Attack under the name Lich Queen. I would drive two hours to their Massachusetts headquarters to treat foot-out-the-door vocalist Tom Martin to a steak dinner and twenty minutes of hanky-panky if he agreed to stick around.” The Doctor is a whore.