Year Of Metal #075: Overkill - The Years Of Decay
The first note I wrote while listening to this was “uh oh”. After a fairly promising opening 90 seconds, which effectively builds tension with a wash of feedback and some heavy drum and guitar hits, Overkill switch into standard thrash mode. The guitars chug chug chug, the drums go fast with no room to breathe, they throw in the odd additional beat here and there to trip you up rhythmically, the vocals get witchy. It all sounds like more of the same, complete with a surprisingly thin texture given it was produced by Terry Date (who made Deftones sound so huge and great).
And to a greater or lesser extent, it is more of the same. Overkill seem to have a good shout for that second tier of thrash along with the likes of Exodus, and found their success during those golden years of ‘80s thrash when headbangers the world over had a thirst for the fast, aggy stuff that couldn’t be slaked. But while this was unlikely to really do it for me (honestly it’s only been Megadeth, and maybe Toxic Holocaust, that has), this actually steers clear of a lot of the stuff I don’t like in the subgenre.
Most notably, they’re able to give songs a little air, to keep things from becoming a big smudge, every instrument doing basically the same thing. “Elimination”, the record’s only single, is a cracker because they’ve managed to find terrific balance. The bass is loose and gurgly, free to go off on its own runs, while the guitars keep things tight, all staccato bursts of aggression. Bobby Ellsworth’s vocals are a joy, too. He’s seldom anywhere but the top of his register, and his squeaks of “E! Limination!” are top drawer.
For the thrash purists, though, there’s plenty to enjoy here, too. “Nothing To Die For” is one of my favourites, especially the sprint they kick into at the halfway point (after a little bit of Seinfeld interstitial-style slap bass). Guitarist Bobby Gustafson just lets rip, kicking into a fully techy solo, melody be damned, just tearing it up as hard as he can while the drums kick into double time. The snarled vocals on this one keep things less histrionic and more like something in an Axl Rose-style hard rock.
Overkill have named Black Sabbath as an influence on this record in particular. They’re referring specifically to the 10 minute epic stomper “Playing With Spiders / Skullcrusher”. This is in part a full on homage to the guitar work of Tony Iommi, but if it’s not the most original sound in the world, it’s a well worked one. The slow, neanderthal drums in particular are fantastic, the simple bass/snare stomp echoing across the spacious track. If the song never really goes anywhere like it feels at times it might, the change of pace is refreshing, and they’re well equipped to make this kind of song, even if they don’t put the full 10 minutes to amazing use.
They end on a super strong note, the frantic, overstuffed “Evil Never Dies”. This is just a frenzied piece of work, towards the end in particular. It’s thrash metal party time, with Gustafson giving it his best Eddie Van Halen on passages of finger taping and ridiculous swept arpeggios. On the Spotify version, it just stops dead mid riff-and-scream, which feels apropos. Overkill are cutting loose and running wild. In terms of variety and fun factor, at its best this offers a lot more than some of the thrash albums I’ve heard.
