OVERKILL – The Grinding Wheel

It may be difficult to fully comprehend, but Overkill has been around since 1980 and are releasing their 18th studio album, all of which seem to be well-thought out with respect to their titles to ensure the “punch in the mouth” sound that Overkill typically elicits is properly communicated. After all, one thing that has been a “given” in Metal is any new Overkill release is not going to pull any punches and is not going to be trendy. If anything, Overkill has been accused sometimes of not evolving their sound or songwriting approach, but fans have always enjoyed knowing they can count on Overkill to deliver a raw, powerful, speaker-destroying album at any juncture.

For the most part, The Grinding Wheel lives up to most of the attributes described above, however, Overkill may have indeed followed the trend that the Big 4 have set over the past year of mixing in Traditional Metal elements into their Thrash style. For Metallica, Anthrax, and (to some degree) Megadeth, that blend worked extraordinarily well, but for Overkill, the album has an awkward feeling that is difficult to pinpoint. Make no mistake, The Grinding Wheel is filled with quality tracks, however, the Overkill faithful are likely to listen to this album and feel elements of disappointment, if not discombobulence. Bobby Blitz seems to lack his incessant (yet very effective) “pissed off at the world” posturing in many of the tracks, and that “punch in the mouth” sound described above is more of a glancing blow rather than a direct knock-out shot to the chin.

Check this album out … but just be prepared for something a little bit different than what you might expect from an Overkill album.

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