Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Overkill - "RelixIV" 2005 Spitfire Records

Track Listing 1. Within Your Eyes 2. Love 3. Loaded Rack 4. Bats in the Belfry 5. A Pound of Flesh 6. Keeper 7. Wheelz 8. The Mark 9. Play the Ace 10. Old School

Are you an Overkill fan? How you answer that simple question will probably have a lot to do with what you think of their latest album, "RelixIV"

Blitz & Co. are back and back to the form that made them a favored name amongst thrash afficianados in the mid eighties. The album opens with 'Within Your Eyes.' The ominous beginning drops into a heavy, thrashy, monster-track, sure to please the old-schoolers out there. For the next 8 tracks, things follow the same path. The most 'familiar' track, to this fan's ears, is 'Bats in th Belfry.' So reminiscent is this tune of past Overkill tracks that it would be easy for critics to write off the entire album as 'recycled.' For the hardcore fans, it will probably be seen as a comfort, given the propensity of some older bands to 'experiment' with their sound, in an effort to stay relevant and fresh.

The only track that gives me pause is the tenth and final track, 'Old School.' The track takes a campish turn away from the heaviness of the nine former numbers and somehow, doesn't seem a fitting close.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give this one a solid 8.

To return to my original question, if you AREN'T an Overkill fan, this one probably isn't going to win you over, but if you ARE, you're going to enjoy it.


--Susan Wright