Full metal riot gear cranked up on 10, blistering with high energy and an unbridled sense of fun. The band’s debut is simply an early thrash masterpiece. The Wings of War is pure thrash ear candy from front to back. “Welcome to the Garden State” is a reminder of the band’s punk roots and sense of humor, while “Where Few Dare to Walk” is a menacing groove fueled bruiser. “Head of a Pin” is one of the groups finest songs to date, and “Bat Shit Crazy” is a calling card anthem that should have been written three decades ago. Right from the crushing opening salvo of “Last Man Standing” its clear Overkill is pit ready. The Wings of War is a declarative statement to the world, we’re not fucking around, and we’re not going close to hanging up the jeans and engineer boots. As strongly as the band kick-started this decade with Ironbound, they close it with another mammoth beast of an album. It almost seems like heavy metal heresy to plant Overkill‘s newest effort this high on the list, but it is simply that fucking good. And while I applaud the experimentation Overkill began with this album, three drawn out 8-minute-plus epics made the album lag a bit. The album delivered classics like “Elimination,” “Birth of Tension,” “E.vil N.ver D.ies,” “I Hate,” and the behemoth Sabbathy classic, “Playing with Spiders/Skullcrusher.” When I was initially sketchying out these rankings, Years of Decay came into argument for first or second place, but ultimately I have to admit, to some degree Overkill still seemed to be inadvertantly chasing Metallica here. Terry Date came on board to produce, so naturally the sound fucking slayed. The combo of Blitz, Verni, Gustafson, and drummer Sid Falck created a genuine trash masterpiece withe The Years of Decay. It would be the band’s last album as a quartet, and the last to feature guitarist Bobby Gustafson. It’s not surprising as the group establishes its own voice that they release their two greatest records back to back. The trademark Blitz vocals begin to emerge with the group’s fourth album, The Years of Decay. Excellent production, fantastic performances, and a strong amount of diversity, all within the signature Overkill mold. And the riffs…the record is packed with some of their best all the way through to the juggernaut album closer, “The SRC.” There’s a reason every album since Ironbound‘s release is compared to this later era benchmark. “Bring Me the Night” is pure Motorhead on steroids fuel. The album’s ominously weighty opener “The Green and Black” sets it off nicely. The title track alone is arguably one of the band’s five most brilliant songs ever. Even though it's one of the oldest and most respected groups in the speed-metal arena, Overkill still delivers with the commitment and intensity of a band that has everything to prove.Hands down one of the greatest albums in the Overkill catalog, and it stands as the record which broke through a decade of lethargy and complacency for the band and fans. Listening to “In Vain” and “Killing for a Living” is like watching an athlete in peak condition: total exertion, blinding speed, and not a single misstep. While Metallica opted for opulence, Ironbound's “Bring Me the Night,” “Give a Little," and “Endless War” are extraordinarily lean and mean. Ironbound continues that tradition, but focuses on the rhythms of early thrash. Even during the '90s-a fallow period for almost every metal band from the '80s-this group of New Jersey believers continued to release material that was as tough and focused in spirit as its early work. Of course, Overkill didn’t need to return to its roots, because it had never abandoned them. Just a few years after its former rival Metallica released Death Magnetic-a much-touted “return to thrash”-Overkill showed Metallica up with Ironbound.
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