Review Summary: The latest excellent entry in the thrash metal resurgence.
Overkill never sold out. They did suffer a minor dip in quality in the 90's, after the release of Horrorscope, but they never made any real changes to their sound (much of their 90's material is labeled 'groove metal', but that's used incorrectly just about all the time anyway). They've already released two very solid thrash albums this millenium, Bloodletting and Immortalis. So in thrash metal's recent comeback, with most of the original juggernauts releasing quality return-to-forms, Overkill didn't have nearly as much to prove as the Metallicas and Megadeths of the world did. Yet, they outdid both of them, and made what is very close to the best Overkill disc to date.
One major key to Overkill's success is that they've never had to rely on being sinister, evil, overly brutal, or atmospheric to be effective. For 15 studio albums now, they've gotten by on pure energy, and it would be pretty foolish to doubt them from here on out. Dave Linsk, Derek Tailer, and Ron Lipnicki aren't exactly household names, but all three are extremely capable musicians who actually seem to specialize in creating barely-contained chaos with their respective instruments, which fits the music writing style of D.D. Verni perfectly. There is no 'groove metal' (if there was ever any groove metal in Overkill) here. From the roller-coaster ride that is The Green and Black, to the old school Bring Me The Night, to the melodic The Head and Heart, to the blistering closer that is The SRC, all that's served up on Ironbound is straight up thrash metal.
Ironbound's first two tracks, The Green and Black and the title cut (the best two offerings on the album, by the way), are two thrash masterpieces that flawlessly combine thrash's crushing rhythms and tempos with much of the exhiliration full-throttle power metal can produce, when it's done right (which isn't often). The Green and Black is over 8 minutes long and worth every second, the highlight being the excellent chorus and dual-lead guitar solo. The title track reminds me of a faster Master of Puppets, with its sharp vocals, deliberately shaky speed, ambiguous lyrics, and flawless melodic instrumental section in the middle. Then its vintage Overkill when Bring Me The Night beings, with a surprisingly catchy melody and the standard Motorhead-esque pace featured in a lot of early thrash. The Goal Is Your Soul is straight out of Horrorscope, and one of the weaker tracks on the album (but by no means bad).
Bouncing right back toward the more old school style, Give A Little has a bit of a crossover thrash feel to it, helping to break up the multiple Horrorscope-isms bunched up in the middle of the album. Endless War is written in the same mold as the epic first two tracks, and while isn't flawless (overstays its welcome a little bit), it's still pretty damn good. The Head and Heart is another slower track, and Blitz even does a bit of growling in this one. It builds up very well, but the chorus is somewhat of a letdown. Sadly, what follows it the album's lone stumbling point - In Vain. It's probably the fastest song on Ironbound, but it never really goes anywhere. Killing For A Living is more Horrorscope, and is another slightly inferior track. The SRC closes out the album with a bang, featuring insane speeds and a few of those riff-drum fill sections that Exodus tends to use pretty liberally.
Despite staying pretty consistent throughout the years, Ironbound harkens back more to the Years of Decay/Horrorscope era than anything since... well, those albums were first released. But somehow at the same time, this album has a sound all its own. This is no cash in on Overkill's 80's success. Ironbound holds up just fine on its own as a modern day thrash stalwart that any metal fan should hear.
Recommended Tracks:
The Green and Black
Ironbound
Bring Me The Night
Endless War
The SRC
