As some, maybe many, of you have noticed Thrash seems to be making its presence felt again. There is a plethora of new bands emerging that have some sort of Thrash influence in their music. I find myself asking “What about the Thrash bands that started out Thrashers and have stayed true to the genre?” All these new bands getting all the hype about being ‘Saving The Scene’, ‘Breathing New Life Into....’ and ‘Putting Thrash Back On The Musical Map’. What a crock o’ shit!!! Thrash Metal, in its various guises has been around for, like, yonks and doesn’t need saved, CPR or put back on any ‘Musical Map’. The release of the 14th Overkill album Immortalis is testament that Thrash Metal is one of the longest living Metal genres in the entire Metal scene. The words written by pseudo Metal journo’s in the pages of glossy Metal mags extolling the virtues of the genre or band de-jour are the main reason why Thrash Metal has been lingering in the journalistic hinterland while less able efforts are lauded via some corporate PR Machine for their 15 minutes of fame. Thrash Metal has as great an influence in the Metal scene today as it always has and it’s all due to bands like Overkill who have refused to follow the trend of the moment and stayed true to their origins. And just to round out my rant here are a few Thrash Metal related websites to visit that proves Thrash is as ‘Happening’ today as it always has been - The Thrash Metal Guide, Clasic Thrash, Thrash Unlimited and Ruuth’s Inn

Immortalis blasts straight out the traps with Devils In The Mist, a musical finger flip to those naysayers who said their days were over when they released ReliXIV which I thought, personally, was a rather mellow and lack-lustre effort with a few flashes of Thrash brilliance but not enough to make this record one to remember. Devils In The Mist is an excellent starter track which winds itself up to just below ‘Frenzy’ the guitar solo is released in a blur of tendon snapping fret widdley-wankery. Second up, What It Takes, and you find Overkill slowing things down half a notch but this downturn in speed is more than made up for with a chunkier, heavier sound that, like a few other tracks, changes direction numerous times like some demented pinball. There are other slower tracks on the album; Hellish Pride, the slowest track on the album may have you reaching for the skip button but stay with Head On and Hell Is as they get cranked up close to 11 as they go on.

Perhaps the most ‘Interesting’ track is Skull And Bones which has a brilliant Groove infused chorus, chunky riffed verses, a guitar solo that totally fits the song rather than a bajillion notes squeezed out of the guitar in as short a time possible and some awesome drumming from Ron Lipnicki. It also features the dulcet tones of Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe that compliments Blitz Ellsworth’s own growls shrieks and rasps perfectly. (Who’d’ve thunk it?) When you get Blitz / Randy double-barrelled scream just before the guitar solo, stand away from the speakers or you’ll get some loose appendage ripped off.

Album closer Overkill V... The Brand, strangely, starts off all AC/DC Hells Bells-ish, with a single note plucked bass string taking the place of the bell, before reverting to glorious type. The track outro’s with the bass plucking seems to trigger the ‘Play It Again’ synapse and has your hand reaching for the repeat button of its own accord.

If you are an Overkill fan then you’re gonna get what you expected and enjoy every moment of it. If you are a Thrash fan with perhaps only the occasional listen to Overkill music then you’re gonna wonder where all the speed, thrash and shredding has gone. It’s still there but it appears Overkill have chosen quality over quantity, slowing things down a beat, going for a thicker and chunkier sound that has a neat groove to it. As an occasional Overkill listener myself, I think Immortalis is their natural progression of musical creation without which you’d be listening to the same-old, same-old! Kinda as if ReliXIV was a trial run and this is the end result of some nifty fine tuning. Click on to their My Space Page listen to a few clips, watch some vids, Wreck Your Neck!!!