An integral part of the early-’80s thrash metal movement that spawned acts like Metallica and Anthrax, New Jersey’s Overkill garnered a reputation for brutal, pounding speed and technique. Taking their moniker from the 1979 Motörhead album of the same name, an early demo; Power in Black, made waves in the underground tape-trading circuit and caught the attention of Megaforce Records, which issued the band’s full-length studio debut, Feel the Fire, in 1985.
High-profile shows alongside luminaries like Slayer and Anthrax followed, and with the American thrash scene in full tilt, Overkill inked a major-label deal with Atlantic, which put out their sophomore effort, 1987’s uncompromising Taking Over. This was followed quickly in 1988 by the equally uncompromising, Under The Influence which spawned the MTV hit, ‘Hello From The Gutter’. Continuing their breakneck pace, the band issued the Terry Date -produced Years of Decay the following year in 1989, which saw them pushing their sound in a more epic direction, while maintaining the neck-snapping attack of their debut. Expanding their lineup to a five piece in 1990 they released the brooding and relentlessly heavy Horrorscope, which introduced elements of doom into the mix and would go on to become a defining release and fan favorite. Overkill continued to move toward a more epic Sabbath style on 1993’s I Hear Black but switched up again on 1994’s W.F.O. which marked a return to the whiplash-inducing thrash of the past.
Tracklist
Taking Over
A1 Deny The Cross
A2 Wrecking Crew
A3 Fear His Name
A4 Use Your Head
A5 Fatal If Swallowed
B1 Powersurge
B2 In Union We Stand
B3 Electro-violence
B4 Overkill II (The Nightmare Continues)
Under The Influence
C1 Shred
C2 Never Say Never
C3 Hello From The Gutter
C4 Mad Gone World
C5 Brainfade
D1 Drunken Wisdon
D2 End Of The Line
D3 Head First
D4 Overkill III (uunder The Influence)
The Years Of Decay
E1 Time To Kill
E2 Elimination
E3 I Hate
E4 Nothing To Die For
E5 Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher
F1 Birth Of Tension
F2 Who Tends The Fire
F3 The Years Of Decay
F4 E.Vil N.Ever D.ies
Horrorscope
G1 Coma
G2 Infectious
G3 Blood Money
G4 Thanx For Nothin’
G5 Bare Bones
G6 Horrorscope
H1 New Machine
H2 Frankenstein
H3 Live Young, Die Free
H4 Nice Day… For A Funeral
H5 Soulitude
I Hear Black
I1 Dreaming In Columbian
I2 I Hear Black
I3 World Of Hurt
I4 Feed My Head
I5 Shades Of Grey
J1 Spiritual Void
J2 Ghost Dance
J3 Weight Of The World
J4 Ignorance & Innocence
J5 Undying
J6 Just Like You
W.F.O.
K1 Where It Hurts
K2 Fast Junkie
K3 The Wait – New High In Lows
K4 They Eat Their Young
K5 What’s Your Problem
L1 Under One
L2 Supersonic Hate
L3 R.I.P. (Undone)
L4 Up To Zero
L5 Bastard Nation
L6 Gasoline dream