Overkill: Hotter Than The Sun
Thrash overlords OVERKILL return with their brand new album Scorched and its a full force collection of the thrash anthems that the band are famed for. In celebration of Scorched, we caught up with vocalist Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth who told us all about the record and it’s creation as well as just how OVERKILL have continued to keep on thrashin’ for so many years.
Bobby started the chat off by excitedly telling us just how happy he is to be getting this album out, Scorched is OVERKILL‘s first record since 2019. “Oh, it’s very exciting. I think the principles for the band over four decades is, it’s time to go to work, so to be able to come out the other side of a pandemic with results, like we accomplish with Scorched, it’s a good day for us and it’s exciting to be back in the game.”
The longer than usual gap between albums came up next and Bobby explained the reasons why this was the case this time around. “It was primarily pandemic based because it was meant to be out April last year. There’s a fine line with a band like us, our visibility is here, with the singles and the coverage guys like you give us, but we got to tour it, you know, if you don’t tour you’re cutting legs off at the knees. To go on the road is part of the process with regard to the record for us. Me and Carlo ‘DD Verni’ [bass], discussed it with Nuclear Blast, and they tended to agree, if you can’t tour then wait, by all means. I think it was probably a smart move because we actually accomplished different results here than we have in the past, I think we’ve married our roots in our heavy metal background to a hard rock groove too.”
On Scorched, Bobby gives such a strong performance (as do the rest of OVERKILL), that its as if the band are just starting out rather than being in their fourth decade and twenty albums deep! He gave us an insight into the secrets of keeping his voice in such fine shape. “Not smoking Marlboro for over a decade, obviously, that helps! I also think that one of the inspirational things to be able to do twenty records, is to constantly push your own parameters. I want to be a better singer, so if I can push those parameters or raise the bar for myself, it always makes the new record that much more interesting.”
In keeping with the album’s title, Bobby told us an anecdote about the hottest thing he has ever had and how it left him Scorched! “It’s funny, I didn’t actually eat it, but my buddy is out in Arizona and he married a Senegalese girl, and they opened a place called All Things Senegal, and he sent me a package, there was coffee and spices and there’s hot sauce but one of the bottles broke in the package and when I picked the package up from the post, my eyes were burning through the package!”
OVERKILL will be heading out on tour around Europe (hopefully UK dates will follow as well) following the release of Scorched with the killer of package of them, HEATHEN and EXHORDER and KEOPS opening up. This is something that Bobby is very excited about. “It’s a great feeling to be able to get a package like that. I’ve toured with both of these bands in the past. I love going into that underground pool because I think it gives a whole tour credibility. It’s something that don’t normally see. I think it’s gonna be a great show and a great package.”
We finished this great chat with a bonafide thrash metal legend with Bobby telling us all about the proudest moments with OVERKILL and his answer salutes the longevity that the band have had and contour to have as well. “I mean, its not just a band, it’s an entire life. I was in university and dropped out so I could get a record deal. I mean, I guess it worked out 40 years later. One of the proudest moments was when it was not easy to do. That’s where it seemed like it was that much more worthwhile to me. In the dark days, in the late 90s, the early 2000s, when metal was on the back burner with regard to its popularity, which was fine for me, because it started as an underground thing. I always thought that it thrived in the underground, the underground vibe that it had brought out its purity, more so than having a major label promoting you. When you’re in the underground, you have to work hard for it so I think that somewhere in the 90s, we managed it ourselves. We had to beat down the doors to make it happen.”
And long may OVERKILL continue to do just that, and it is well deserved especially with an album as storing as Scorched.
Scorched is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
For more information on OVERKILL like their official page on Facebook.