keepers - 1
keeper avg .100
Take Metallica and add Brian Johnson's hemorrhoidal growl and we've got Overkill. Saying Ellsworth's vocals an acquired taste doesn't make them any more palatable, so there's strike one there. The album's acoustic intro on "Coma" may be likened to Metallica's famous acoustic introductions, though I think this one is more Testament, as are the little echo-ey spy-movie riffs. The obvious descending chords are horror-movie stuff and not worthy of Metallica's superior melodic sense. "New Machine" and "Infectious" borrow from the Justice For All school with its uber-angular chugging, and includes the appropriate marching robot army sound effects. All are competently played, but not much is memorable save for Anthrax's funny catch-phrase-ery on "Thanx For Nothin"****. I can see admiring Overkill for sticking to its thrash roots when Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax were all starting to slow down to a more hard-rock pace, but there's nothing here that one of those bands didn't do better in their hey day - usually with actual singing.
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