Thursday, December 2: Overkill, “Use Your Head”

Although Among the Living established Anthrax as the figureheads of New York thrash, Overkill’s Taking Over was released around the same time and arguably came closer to representing the Old Bridge Militia.  The difference was in the songs: whereas Anthrax incorporated thrash into their traditional metal blueprint, Overkill’s writing was mainly designed to reflect and perpetuate the chaos of their live shows, and “Use Your Head” was as clear a distillation of this ethos as anything else on their second record.  Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth did his best to live up to his stage name with his frantic yelping and snarling, while Carlo “D.D.” Verni, Bobby Gustafson and Rat Skates similarly bashed away as if they weren’t so much trying to write songs as punch them out.  And between Alex Perialis’ trademark frazzled production and a hilarious chorus that read like a Jersey-fied take on Motörhead, the tune held its own among the ranks of the second-string thrash acts gaining prominence in the back half of the ‘80s. Along those lines, “Use Your Head” did its part to define thrash as a sound and ethos, delivering snarky put-downs over relentless musical violence.

Oldschool Sunday: ATTACKER [To Record New EP With Famed Producer Alex Perialas]

Oldschool Sunday: ATTACKER [To Record New EP With Famed Producer Alex Perialas]

ATTACKER Then (1984)

(By Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist, RiffRelevant.com)

The origin story of New Jersey’s thrashing ATTACKER begins in 1983 under the band’s original moniker, Warloc. (more…)

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Thursday, March 4: Overkill, “Electro-Violence” [ENCORE]

The Today’s Metal Tune tumblr launched March 3, 2014.  To celebrate 7 years of metal, this week we are revisiting some favorites from our early days, showcasing memorable deep cuts from legendary and semi-legendary acts.  A huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s followed, liked, reblogged and commented over the years, there is still a lot more metal to come…

In hindsight, it was fairly obvious why Overkill didn’t rise above the B-level of thrash bands: while the big 4 were advancing by leaps and bounds with every album in the mid-80s, Overkill stood still (some might say “stayed true”) and adhered to thrash’s primitive underpinnings: low-rent recording values, aimlessly yelping vocals, aimless aggression, just aimlessness in general.  And even though Taking Over was their major-label debut, it still sounded like it was recorded for about $20 in a basement over a weekend.  Of course, it was these very qualities that accounted for a good amount of its charm: the band’s enthusiasm was genuine, and even Bobby “Biltz” Ellsworth’s bleating (the guy always sounded like he was running late and really in a hurry to get somewhere) was endearing in its way. “Electro-Violence” didn’t really make any sense, but it was an entertaining shout-along.  Well, maybe more like grunt-along, since it ended with caveman wailing.  Good times.

Monday, October 19: Testament, “The Sermon”

The Ritual quickly became the most polarizing album of Testament’s on account of its seemingly forsaking thrash in favor of meat-and-potatoes heavy metal. However, what the band lost in speed they more than gained in precision and power: Tony Platt’s gleaming production and the meatiness of the riffing gave tracks like “The Sermon” a heft that hadn’t been heard from the band up to that point (if we’re being honest, as great as Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson were as players, their writing wasn’t nearly as sticky on The New Order or even Practice What You Preach, and Alex Perialis’ production on both was incredibly thin).  And Chuck Billy arguably never sounded better, bellowing with authenticity and force while also sounding more accessible than ever.  Credit also to Del James, who co-wrote the lyrics to “The Sermon” along with a good chunk of The Ritual, and helped Billy focus his words on real life, and though there was more than a little conspiracy theorizing, there was also a kernel of truth. Most of all, the song kicked ass with a musical vigor and venom that pointed a way forward for Testament, although that path wouldn’t become fully clear for another couple decades.