OVERKILL

Legendary American thrashers OVERKILL have released their 15th studio effort (counting the cover compilation "Coverkill" as a separate album). Vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist Carlo "D.D." have been working together for 27 years. No matter what happened in their lives, they always remained in OVERKILL, setting the tone in the band and working intensively. The latest record appeared on October 9, 2007, titled "Immortalis," and its release caught the musicians in the middle of an American tour. Was anyone expecting something fundamentally new from these guys? If so, they were either naive or poorly acquainted with the band's discography. Let's be objective — OVERKILL have never been ones for excessive experimentation; they've always played thrash, trying to bring something new to each album while staying within the fairly strict confines of the genre. That's precisely why their fans love and appreciate them. Blitz's vocals haven't been as piercing as in the glorious old days for many years now, and this disc makes it especially apparent. However, while there may be technical issues, when it comes to delivery and energy — which matters far more in thrash — there are absolutely no problems. The album itself is fairly consistent, consistently good even, with decent solos and interesting riffs. Beyond that, evaluating individual tracks would be rather subjective, though one thing can be said: the mid-tempo tracks turned out much better than the fast ones. LAMB OF GOD vocalist Randy contributed to the track "Skull and Bones," and the result is simply brilliant — his vocals fit perfectly into this track, making it one of the album's greatest triumphs. All in all, for fans of old-school American thrash, this album won't be a wasted addition to the collection.