ALBUM REVIEW: The Wings Of War – Overkill

Bands who throw out album after album at an almost clockwork rate of two years can be criticised for choosing quantity over quality, but if you suggested that to OVERKILL you’d get a big middle finger in return. The New Jersey legends have never quite hit the heady heights of some of their thrash counterparts, but their dedication to the cause of bringing neck-snapping metal to the world has earned them a place at the banquet of all things heavy for the rest of eternity. Their musical output to date is nothing short of staggering and it’s about to get even greater, with The Wings Of War out soon via Nuclear Blast and their nineteenth studio record in thirty-four years.

By this stage, there’s no point in OVERKILL doing anything radical, so they’ve stuck to their tools and done what they do best. This naturally might cause a few eye rolls, but when a band is this good at their craft, it doesn’t matter one bit, especially when opening track Last Man Standing flies straight out of the traps in a full-blown mosh anthem that will rip heads from shoulders in the most brutal way possible, and then throws in a classic NWOBHM solo for good measure.

Perhaps more telling, though, they sound a hell of a lot fresher than any of the Big 4 have for a number of years; Head Of A Pin, for example, outstrips everything MEGADETH have done for a full decade. Elsewhere, Welcome To The Garden State moves into ANTHRAX territory with gang vocals and a punk rock ending whilst Where Few Dare To Walk is a steadier track, emulating METALLICA at the height of The Black Album, even if the opening bears an uncomfortable likeness to Wherever I May Roam.

That aforementioned freshness is down to a stellar production job from OVERKILL themselves but also the fact that they’re all still in extremely good nick given the general savage nature of their creativity. Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth still has an excellent set of pipes that shriek and snarl their way through A Mother’s Prayer and Bat Shit Crazy (terrible title aside), while both Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer have not lost their prowess on axe duties, the highlight being a thunderous twin IRON MAIDEN lead during Distortion. Anyone who feared the departure of Ron Lipnicki behind the kit will have their minds rested by Jason Bittner, who has filled his shoes exceptionally well and does and does a sterling job on his debut with the band. In true fashion as well, the record finishes as it starts with balls-to-the-wall heaviness in the guise of Hole In My Soul, a very satisfying conclusion indeed.

It might not be reinventing the wheel, but a band of OVERKILL’s pedigree don’t have anything to prove in that department. What’s good to see is they haven’t taken their foot off the gas and rested on their laurels; they still want to perform as well as they can for as long as possible, and The Wings Of War is just the next showcase of that highly commendable mentality as they move closer to their fortieth anniversary.

Rating: 8/10

The Wings Of War is set for release February 22nd via Nuclear Blast Records. 

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