Overkill- Fuck You!!! And Then Some 2xLP

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Overkill- Fuck You!!! And Then Some 2xLP

SKU: me1974.gal

Band/Title: Overkill

Label: Megaforce

You can earn 25 AYP PUNK ROCK POINTS on this product!

Price: $24.99

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What we have here is a selection of rare tracks you can't get on any full length of the band’s catalogue, an aspect I consider indispensable to make a compilation interesting and worth checking. The album starts with the !!!Fuck You!!! EP from 1987, which features a cover from the canadian punk band "The Subhumans” plus 6 live tracks recorded the same year; followed by 2 previously unreleased live tracks recorded in 1990 and Overkill’s second demo -Rotten to the Core- originally released in 1984.

Thrash metal bands almost never fail at covering punk rock songs due to the direct influence of punk in the development of thrash, so the cover sounds pretty natural, like a regular song from Taking Over or Under the Influence studio sessions: straight forward speed metal with raspy high pitched vocals, traditional mid-fast tremolo guitar riffing, a solid rhythmic base conformed by a distorted and the metallic bass tone produced by the use of a pick -take Lemmy as reference- and competent double bass drum speed metal percussion. The track's original punk songwriting is still notable, you can taste the crossover flavor and it doesn't just works perfectly as a piece but also gives you a hint of how the traditional Overkill sound developed. One of the unreleased live songs is another cover, "Hole in the Sky” originally written by Black Sabbath. Then again the mean, aggressive thrash oriented style blends nicely with the psychedelic riffs, groove and 70s progressive rock twist of the first heavy metal band. Paying tribute to both heavy metal and punk rock is an obvious statement, being those genres the roots of the band's sound.

The standard of the live recordings isn't top notch I must accept, but it sounds like a nice bootleg and captures completely the raw energy of the band’s performance. Technique isn't flawless either, because they tend to play even faster live. Studio versions sound a little bit more like traditional heavy metal sometimes but they actually wreck everything on stage, higher tempos give a more menacing, frantic edge to songs that were already heavy. The neatness they sacrifice in execution because of playing at such high speeds is rewarded with maximum intensity shows. These are probably the only live tracks we will ever get from them with their legendary original guitarist Bobby Gustafson, that makes them super valuable.

Nonetheless, the hidden gem of this compilation is the demo, specifically "The Answer”, an almost 9 minute epic they sadly never re-recorded. It reminds me of The Years of Decay in terms of composition complexity and how the song structure develops but it's atmosphere is way darker than melancholic. Strong doom metal influence. The other 3 tracks sound pretty much like their future studio versions with lesser production and the traditional rehearsal feel demos had in the early 80s, raw but still legible and keeping a balanced mix where you can even hear the bass. The history behind these tracks makes them unique, a must have for any early Overkill fan.

(Metal-Archives.com review)