Album Review: Overkill The Electric Age

If, way back in 1992 you came out and proclaimed that in 2012 it would be perennial 'also rans' Overkill who would be producing some of the most consistent and enjoyable thrash metal on the face of the planet, they would have carted you off to the nuthouse. (You know, the one Metallica sung about on Welcome Home (Sanitarium)). The Electric Age builds on the good work Bobby Blitz and cohorts began on 2010's spectacular Iron Age platter. There's not a weak moment here with each of the ten tracks offering something for even the most jaded thrasher.

The album opens with Come & Get It, which builds slowly before exploding in an orgy of nitro-charged riffs that are guaranteed to snap necks at a dozen paces. Rapid fire thrashers are the order of the day here and the likes of Wish You Were Dead, All Over But The Shouting and Save Yourself will complete the spinal damage inflicted by Come & Get It. However, it's testament to the strength of this album then that one of the highlights is the malevolent mid-tempo crunch of Black Daze, a track on which Blitz showcases the power of his patented high-pitched vocal style. In fact this album is probably Blitz's finest vocal performance in years and his impassioned vocals take each song and launches it into the stratosphere. The 'nu thrash' groups have run out of puff, Megadeth's last album was awful, Metallica are a joke and Anthrax's much vaunted comeback LP hasn't stood up to repeated listens. But all is not lost: Overkill keep delivering the goods with a minimum of fuss and drama. Thrash isn't quite dead yet.