Thrash legends Overkill are trekking across the United States in support of their 19thstudio album ‘Wings Of War.’ They are the hardest hitting wrecking crew out of New Jersey and even after decades of non-stop touring, their venom is just as lethal as ever. This tour also offered Bay Area thrashers Death Angel and the intergalactic rock trio known as Mothership, which made for heavy night of music. Continue reading
Legendary New Jersey thrashers OVERKILL are proud to announce ‘The Wings Over USA‘2019 tour. Kicking off on April 25th in Baltimore, the tour will make stops in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Nashville before concluding in Boston on May 11th. Joining the tour are none other than San Francisco Bay Area thrash legends and label mates DEATH ANGEL and ex-members of MEGADETH, SHADOWS FALL and SCAR THE MARTYR, ACT OF DEFIANCE. Continue reading
Time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday, watching the Headbangers Ball on MTV, and some band called Overkill comes on with the video “In Union We Stand.” The name glowed in green with a skull bat logo (please cease and desist Avenged Sevenfold) draped on each side of the drum riser. The song had speed but also a hook in the chorus that had me singing it the next morning. It’s been over three decades since that introduction and now I’m staring at their 19th full-length album titled ‘The Wings Of War.’ Overkill climbed out of the New Jersey gutters with a determination to succeed and has been resilient against the trends and changing climates of the music industry. This latest offering shows no signs that this green and black thrash machine will slow down anytime soon. The new caveat to the equation is the addition of drummer Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Flotsam and Jetsam, Stigmata), and he turns in a crushing performance. Throughout the songs you continually notice how lethal the drums are. His playing and energy provided the spark to ignite the fuse on this record. The album will be released on Nuclear Blast on February 22 and once again features a brilliant cover design done by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth, Soilwork, Death). Continue reading
New Jersey heavy weights OVERKILL are just no where even in close proximity being done. They have a lot of unfinished business, and to take care of that the band has already announced its next studio album. The upcoming all new 19th studio record, ‘The Wings Of War‘ is dropping on February 22nd, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. And to get you a first taste of the oncoming thrash attack, Bobby Blitz and co. have their very first single in the form of a lyric video out from the album. It’s called, ‘Last Man Standing‘, and as intimidating as it sounds, it does stand up to its name for it is one hell of a typical thrash, true to its core attack. It’s a riff fiesta accompanied with satisfying fast and ruthless riffs, swift & technical drumming and of course, Bobby’s trademark raspy, awesome vocals.
OVERKILL are a legendary thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many line-up changes, leaving bassist D. D. Verni and lead vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth as the only constant members. OVERKILL‘s current lineup also includes Dave Linsk on lead guitar, Derek Tailer on rhythm guitar and Jason Bittner on drums.
The band are masters of the crunchy thrash that the 1980’s spawned. They eat and drink metal music and Blitz is a renowned singer within the genre, being one of the godfathers of thrash, along with James Hetfield of METALLICA and Chuck Billy of TESTAMENT. They have a significant library of studio albums (nineteen in total), including the stone cold classics ‘Under The Influence’ (1988) and ‘Horrorscope’ (1999). Continue reading
Best of 2017
Like every year, we have been inundated with tons of killer, new Metal in 2017. Thankfully, we here at Metal Nexus have the freedom to share what we personally liked over the course of the year. No sales numbers. No record label affiliation or pressure. No sub-genre infighting. No BS. Just an honest list of what struck us individually. Like past years, my list is as broad as my musical tastes and covers everything from instrumentals, to Tech Death, to Power Metal, to Thrash and even a top-notch Progressive Rock band. Hopefully, some of my favorites will become yours and will propagate the audience for each and every band listed below. I sincerely hope that 2018 brings bands and albums this good. Enjoy and continue expanding our Metal family!
OVERKILL songwriter and bassist DD Verni has plans to release his first solo CD in 2018. Currently, the group is looking for a label to call home. The record is a mix of all of Verni’s influences. Check out the lyric video for “Fire Up” below.
“There’s some metal, punk, and classic rock…..its all in there, from QUEEN to GREEN DAY to METALLICA, I think we covered all the basses!” declares DD.
Overkill
Thrash metal old gunners from New Jersey, OVERKILL are going to headline ‘Metal Alliance US Tour 2017‘ this coming September. Also joining in the line up is sludge metal band from New Orleans, CROWBAR, fellow thrash metal young guns HAVOK, technical thrash metal band BLACK FAST and the recently formed INVIDIA, comprising of IN THIS MOMENT and Ex-FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH members. The tour will envelope the entire month of September, starting off at The Forge in Joliet, IL on September 8th, 2017 and bringing it to a close at the One Centre Square, Easton, PA on 30th of the same month. Continue reading
After many weeks of announcing individual bands that will be present at the festival, the guys behind Full Terror Assault Open Air have unveiled the entire lineup for the third annual metal fest in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois! This lineup is stacked with metal heavyweights – consisting of none other than Overkill, Venom Inc., Havok, Toxic Holocaust, Goatwhore, Crowbar and many more! With a total of 37 bands, ranging from all ends of the extreme metal spectrum, performing over three days… Full Terror Assault III is going to go down as one of the most ass-kicking festivals in the U.S. this year! This only further cements the open air festival’s growing reputation among extreme metal fests.
With 2016 just barely behind us we are looking at the upcoming releases in 2017. Some of these albums already have specific release dates and titles and some haven’t been announced yet. These albums are not only by bands that we like but a release in which the band is reuniting or hasn’t released an album in a while, or just an album we think will have a huge impact on the band’s career. The albums that follow are in no specific order and our staff has all had input on the albums in which they think are the most anticipated of 2017.
