If you are a big fan of Overkill or maybe you are about to check how the band sounds like you should get this album called W.F.O. Many thrash-metal bands and/or other types of metal bands started off very good in their early days but many of them fell into the mainstream and the album becamed anything else but good. Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax are good examples of bands that changed their style from energetic thrash/heavy-metal to slower mainstream rock metal, though Megadeth returned slightly to their thrash roots with their newest album. But there was one band who resisted the mainstream and that band is Overkill, though lot of Overkill's albums from the 90's was not so good as their 80's records this album was like a final last stand when it came to heavy, speedy and catchy thrash. This album is quite similar to their album Under The Influence and thats because of the very loud and metallic bass which I will come back later to.
The crew who made this album was the vocalist Bob ''Blitz'' Ellsworth, the two guitarists Rob Cannevino and Merritt Gant, lont time companion and bassist D.D Verni and the drummer Tim Mallare. After the album I Hear Black which was quite slow and a bit more dynamic in its sound this album is totally the opposite. Bob with his quite whiney but yet evil vocal style is great and effective in this album, there is no signs of exaggeration in the signing and Bob also deivers some growling here believe it or not but it is not much though. Rob and Merritt has turned up there pace and there riffing and soloing reminds you of older late 80's Overkill, the shredding is very solid and very catchy in many of the songs and the guitar solos are great. The solos are now faster, more melodic and the level of soloing is now a bit higher, really enjoying to listen at. D.D Verni marches on with his perfect bass playing in this album, the bass is very metallic and clear but it the bass is a bit overwhelming in some songs but otherwise it sounds terrific. Tim's drumming is also great here, the drumbeats are heavy and the drum patterns changes between fast, medium and slow. The drumming is more classic heavy-metal stuff and not like the ''Slayer-drumming''.
We move on and take a look at the songs shall we, we begin with ''Where It Hurts'', it starts with some wierd and up-rising sound effects, the instruments later kicks in and plays very heavy chuga-chuga shredds. The heavy is very heavy and very catchy, the song has both fast sections and slow grinding parts, you must bang your head to this song for best effect. Great song to open this album and this song tells exactly how this album will sound like, great song. ''Fast Junkie'' starts with somewhat strange intro riffing but they get way more better when the band turns up the pace. The song has great bass, solid guitar work, the song is pretty fast and it is highly addictive. The guitar solo is also fast and pretty catchy but it is a bit to high-pitched though. ''The Wait/New High In Lows'' starts with what I think is from a movie and I have heard these effects somewhere else too, the ending sentence is: ''Here comes the pain!'', the song is a bit slower than the previous ones but it has the same raw heaviness, the shredding is though fast and quite simple to their sound. The song gets a bit more speed after three minutes and the overall sund changes a bit. ''They Eat Their Young'' with some staccato riffing which later bursts out in an thrashing assault with furious drumming and catchy maniac riffing. The song has a fast pace and it is quite brutal in its sound, this is probably one of the albums highlight tracks. ''What's Your Problem'' kicks off with a quite long intro based on fading guitars and pounding but yet easy-approaching bass and drumming. The tempo is truned up and the song gets very heavy and catchy, the guitars are fast shredding but the vocals seems to be a bit overshadowed by the instruments. ''Under One'' begins with a slow but yet heavy intro, the song has a quite fast pace and is a bit catchy too. The pace is turned up during the chorus when you can hear some semi-growlings, the tempo changes time to time in the song but it is in general quite mellow.
The six other tracks will now be shortly desrcibed so keep on read to found out more about this great album, ''Supersonic Hate'' starts with guitar riffing and an up-building bass and it later transforms to a brutal thrash attack. The song is very fast with catchy drumming and fast classic Overkill riffing, the song has some slower sections but it is in general very fast, perfect headbang song. ''R.I.P (Undone)'' is basically a short filler song, the song has mystic acoustic guitars and a quiet bass and has no drums. The tempo is turned up and the acoustics are playing fast chords along with a electric-guitar solo. ''Up To Zero'' starts with short bursts of high tuned instruments, the song gets more structure and the song has a good chuga-chuga feel, the bass is grinding and the song is a bit slower than the previous tracks. ''Bastard Nation'' starts witha great bass solo intro. Imagine that you are the only survivor from a terrible battle of some kind and you look around you at the devastation, the solo has to be bass and it sounds at sad and also a bit victorious. The song turns up in speed and gets very catchy, the song feels proud in a strange way. The song is very heavy and the riffing and drumming sounds though quite uncomplicated. ''Gasoline Dream'' starts with a marching intro of some kind. The bass effect sounds great at the calm moments, the song sounds quite devastating and the tempo is changing from grinding slow and thrashing fast. The song delivers quite many different riffs but the guitar solo is not so good though. The album should've ended here but there is a hidden track and that seems to be called ''Track 98 (Heaven And Hell)''. The only song that I thought was boring, the tempo reminds you of Iron Maiden because of the triplet riffing from the bass and guitar plus the drumming, not much to mention about this song though.
And now we are done, here is the end of the line where you will found out what I thought about this album. This album was great! This was really something special, the album had almost all the ingredients that I look for in every album I listen to. The sound was very heavy, the bass was incredible, the guitars were thick and solid plus that the guitar work was very catchy. The drumming was also great, the variety of drum patterns was good and they are were heavy and catchy, Bob's vocals were also good because he didn't do some odd or overdone vocal work. He kept his whiney and evil basic vocal style which is one of the unique features in this band. Thrashers, Overkill fans and metal heads should get this heavy and thrashy Overkill-juggernaut, I think that this is a pretty underrated album that needs more recognition. I hope this review was helpful and I thank you for taking time to read this, any criticism or corrections will be received with open arms.
PROS
+ Incredible bass work, the bass is loud, clear and very metallic.
+ The overall sound is pure heaviness
+ The basically headbang to every song more or less
+ The material was very catchy, this is an album that will hang on for a while
CONS
- The only thing that I think would trouble people would be the loud bass frequence. I admit though that it can be a bit to much of it sometimes.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
-- Bastard Nation
-- Fast Junkie
-- Where It Hurts
-- Supersonic Hate
The overall album rating will be a steady 4.5/5
