Overkill – Scorched

Deadly album. Decent mixing. Great pressing. Well worth the dinaros.

Still producing quality, quirky metal after 38 years of releasing albums

Released in 2023, SCORCHED is the 21st studio album by New Jersey’s prolific Overkill, if you include their debut self-titled EP (which the band does). This is the third studio album of their fourth decade of releasing albums.

What I like best about Overkill is their diversity. Yes, they’re a thrash band, but they’re so much more: They’re rooted in traditional metal (e.g. Accept), but mix it with a lot of thrash and generous amounts of punk, doom, power and hard rock. Basically, if you liked their previous album THE WINGS OF WAR (2019), you’ll appreciate this one. It’s at least on par and, arguably, superior.

My favorite era of the band is 1993-2007 in which they released my personal favorite albums, like THE KILLING KIND, FROM THE UNDERGROUND AND BELOW, KILLBOX 13, W.F.O., I HEAR BLACK, RELIXIV and IMMORTALIST. I’d rank this one with the last few of those.

My favorite tracks are featured in the middle of the album, “Won’t Be Coming Back” and “Fever,” probably because they stand out due to not being one-dimensional thrashers. The former is slightly Maiden-ish (speaking as someone who’s not a fan of modern Maiden) whereas the latter features catchy clean channel sections mixed with heavy breaks before switching dynamics for the bluesy-doom of the hooky chorus and following lead section.

As is usual with Overkill, they throw in sections that are quirky and hooky, like the haunting background vox on the mid-break of “Twist of the Wick.” It’s one of the things I love about Overkill, their penchant for including interesting or peculiar parts, which offsets the rest of the composition and prevents them from being simpleminded thrash. The notable finger-tapping to the opening of the title song is a good example, as is the doom-ish mid-section that leads into a energetic lead break. You can trace this knack all the way back to “Kill at Command” from FEEL THE FIRE (1985).

Overkill don’t have an identity crisis. They know who they are. They know their style and perform it with gusto without second guessing.

The ten tracks clock-in at 51 minutes.

GRADE: A-

Nice clean quiet pressing, good soundstage and a killer album to boot. Cheers 🥂

After 5 minutes of listening, I switch it off ... clamor, my ears and head hurt. Compressed to max. DR6 .Listen for example, Horoscope CD from 1991. DR12. You'll see what I'm talking about, or rather what I'm hearing!

Nice vinyl color, but cheap inner sleeves and disc labels.

Great songs, yet the lame production turn it into a fatiguing listening experience.

I wish all bands could afford the production values of Metallica’s “72 Seasons”.

poor edition....for a band like this
digipack or mediabook please.