OVERT ENEMY

OVERT ENEMY     “Insurrection”

By Dr. Abner Mality

With OVERT ENEMY, sheer anger and heaviness trumps songwriting. This Texas crew plays a style based on groove metal staples like PANTERA, LAMB OF GOD and HATEBREED, but they add such a ferocious swagger and rawness that the songs approach death metal in intensity. It’s a kind of meathead metal, but then again, a mugger doesn’t have to be a nuclear physicist to knock you out.

Right off the bat, “Resinated” demonstrates that they’re not playing around. It’s encrusted in muck and groovy bad intentions.  The production is very thick and booming and it doesn’t sound cleaned up with digital tricks at all. The band has a three pronged vocal attack, mixing a semi-guttural death grunt, a raspy Anselmo-like shout and most notably, angry female vocals from bassist Slayerella. Surprisingly, the female vocals work best of all, brimming with real venom on “The Truth”.

At no point does OVERT ENEMY show any signs of originality, but piss and vinegar they have by the bucketful. “Psychotic Episode” and “Eradication” bring SLAYER-like thrash to the forefront while “Fire In the Skies” is a certified groove monster. “Bleed Like I Do” tries to add some icy melody to the style, but doesn’t quite cut it.

This is just pissed off bare knuckle back alley metal that slaps you across the chops….enjoy it as such.

OVERT ENEMY