OVERKILL IN HOUSTON

South Texas in July is hot but it got even hotter when the OVERKILL tour rolled into town.  When they released their newest album “Scorched” in April, I was hoping to see this tour and my prayers were answered when they posted a date in my adopted hometown of Houston back in June. Even though I only had to wait a little over a month and half for the show, it seemed like forever and I have been raging to the new record ever since its release.  I have seen OVERKILLa number of times over the years and while some of the members have changed since the early days, the ferocity of their live performances have not changed one bit.  Twenty studio records on in their career and they show no sign of slowing down.

The show was initially advertised as a three band line-up but they managed to sneak in another group from New York called SUNLORD.  I had never seen them nor have I ever heard any of their music but I was quite impressed with this trio who sounded like a cross between early VENOM and MOTÖRHEAD.  Guitarist and vocalist Alfonso Ferrazza has a vocal delivery similar to Cronos and they managed to capture that older NWOBHM vibe with their overall sound.  Their set was short but to the point featuring material from their latest record.  Standouts during their performance were “The Vigilante”, “Do Your Push Ups” and “Forbidden Witch” with bassist Pete Maglia donning an evil mask during the last number.  Overall, for a band that I knew nothing about, they impressed me with their energetic performance and catchy old-school sound.

Speaking of old-school, next on the bill were Bay Area thrashers HEATHEN.  I really loved “Breaking the Silence” when it came out in 1987 and quite frankly, that record has held up nicely.  2020’s “Empire of the Blind” was their last release so I guess they were touring on that record (Covid really screwed things up for a lot of bands).  I was happy to see them on the bill because they deserved a lot more press and success than they ultimately received.  Either way, the Houston crowd gave them a hero’s welcome and they reciprocated by performing a six song blistering set.  While the set was short, they managed to touch upon each of their releases with their latest getting most of the attention.  From “Empire of the Blind”, they performed “The Blight”, “Sun In My Hand”, and the title track.  All of them connected with the audience with “Sun In My Hand” getting the biggest response with our fists pumping the air and singing along.  Not to be out done, “Goblin’s Blade” from the first album had a nice mosh pit going with one person even attempting to body surf.  As I mentioned earlier, HEATHEN is not a band that gets mentioned a lot but they definitely deserve more attention and their performance on this hot sweaty night in Texas proves that they have earned it.

After a short set change, EXHORDER hit the stage with “Incontinence” and let loose their sludgy brand of thrash.  I don’t know much about them other than the few releases I heard and the whole Phil Anselmo/Kyle Thomas vocal style gossip.  If HEATHEN warmed up the crowd for a mosh pit, then EXHORDER took them to the next level.  “Slaughter at the Vatican” and “My Time” really whipped up the crowd and “Desecration” and “Exhorder” brought it all to a frantic close.  Like HEATHEN, Thomas and company played material from all their studio records but oddly, the bulk of their set was culled from their 1990 debut.  I have to give a special mention to drummer Sasha Horn who bashed away at his poor drum kit like he was auditioning for the band.  The whole band was great but Horn put the groove In their sound and he managed to do it like someone half his age.

Finally the wait was over and headliners OVERKILLgraced the stage kicking off proceedings with the title track off their latest record.  Some bands need a song or two to get their timing and grove synced up but OVERKILL had it all dialed in from the first note.  Making sure to not let the momentum slip, they launched into “Bring Me the Night” and “Electric Rattlesnake”; both tunes showcasing their latter day work.  It wasn’t until the fourth song of the night that OVERKILL delved into their 80s material with “Hello From the Gutter” and “Powersurge”.  The former brought me back in time to when that track was still being played on MTV.  The juxtaposition of showcasing newer material along with their earlier efforts showed that they have not lost any of their ferocity or (more importantly) their ability to write and perform great songs.  OVERKILL  has such a long and rich history of material to choose from that it must be difficult to put together a set list.  

Thankfully, the band didn’t forget any of their 90s output by performing “Coma” and the title track off their stellar “Horrorscope” disk.  I was so happy that they continue to highlight that era (albeit briefly) because while heavy metal was going through a slight change, I still purchased all those Overkill releases with “Horrorscope” being one of their best.  Oddly, the early 2000s didn’t any airtime but again, with so much to choose from, there has to be some releases that get omitted.  “Scorched” will probably go down in my “Top 10 of 2023” so I, along with the crowd, were glad they played a couple of more form that record.  The sinister and groove-laden “Wicked Place” and “The Surgeon” spurred some mosh pitting and made great additions to the set list.  They closed with “Elimination” which got the frenzied crowd to create the largest mosh pit of the evening.  Yours truly had to step aside and let the young guns in the crowd enjoy themselves (and I don’t heal like I used to).  One thing is for certain, when OVERKILL come to town, they bring an old school mosh pit with them and this stop on the Scorched Tour is no different.

I am originally from Chicago but Texans love their metal just the same.  Even though OVERKILL put on a great set, we weren’t about to let them leave without playing a few more and luckily Bobby, D.D., Dave, Derek, and Jason kindly obliged.  They capped of the evening with rousing renditions of “Overkill”, “Rotten to the Core”, and “F**k You”.  The encore, like other parts of the concert, brought me back to the early days of thrash and a more innocent time in my life.  For that alone, I want to thank the band but young or old, do yourself a favor and catch OVERKILL on this tour (or any tour for that matter).  They may be one of the elder statesmen of thrash but they still put on a great show and some of these newer bands could learn a thing or two from them.  Scorched the Earth for sure.