OVERKILL was formed in 1980 by Carlo Verni and Lee John Kundrat aka D.D. Verni and Rat Skates. When Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth and Bobby Gustafson joined the band Overkill fastly gained popularity. Overkill hailed from the New Jersey area and like most other bands from the area of New Jersey and New York, Overkill had a punk edge. In 1985 the band album debuted with Feel the Fire. During their career they have released seventeen studio albums and with an unparallelled workmanship they have finally reached the top of the ranks and the outmost respect from the metal community. With albums like Taking Over, The Years of Decay, Horrorscope, Ironbound and White Devil Armory. This is the biography of Overkill:
THE BEGINNING (1980-1984)
With Gustafson in the lineup the band started writing original songs such as Raise the Dead, Unleash the Beast (Within), Overkill, Death Rider and Rotten to the Core. During this time they established themself as a promising live act in the clubs around the area of New Jersey, such as L'Amours. In 1983, the lineup of Skates, Verni, Ellsworth and Gustafson released the Power in Black demo. This demo led to a spot on the legendary Metal Massacre compilation series (MMV) with the track Death Rider. They also appeared with a track on the compilation New York Metal '84.
Then Overkill signed a deal with Azra / Metal Storm Records. In late '84 Overkill released their self-titled debut EP on the label. The EP included the tracks: Rotten to the Core, Fatal If Swallowed, The Answer and Overkill. All songs but The Answer was later re-recorded and included on their first two records Feel the Fire and Taking Over.
FEEL THE FIRE AND TOURING (1985-1986)
The band didn't see any money from the release but Jon Zazula, the owner of Megaforce Records had discovered the band and contacted them and Overkill signed up to the Megaforce label. In the spring of 1985, Overkill full-length debuted with Feel the Fire and it a success and Overkill fastly established themselves as one of the top acts around the area. The album was recorded in Pyramid Studios and produced by Carl Canedy and Jon Zazula. After the release, the band started gigging heavily and they gigged with acts like Carnivore, S.O.D., Nuclear Assault, Blessed Death, Venom, Black Flag and D.R.I.. But the big break came in '86 when the band was invited to open on Megadeth's "Peace Sells" US tour. Later in '86 Overkill toured Europe for the first time with Anthrax and Agent Steel as well as some gigs with Slayer.
TAKING OVER AND THEN SOME (1987-1988)
In 1987, Overkill released their second full-length titled Taking Over, the band had developed more into a traditional thrash metal band by this release. The production was improved quite a bit since their debut, much thanks to Alex Perialas studio work. Taking Over was released on Megaforce in cooperation with major label Atlantic Records. The anthemic track In Union We Stand was one of the album's highlights and Overkill recorded their first music video to promote the track and the album. Another European tour then followed, this time with German Metal legends Helloween. In late '87 Overkill once again went down the punk route and recorded a Subhuman cover called "Fuck You", The song was part of their 1987 EP "!!!Fuck You!!!" together with a few live cuts.
In 1987 founding member and drummer Rat Skates left the band and he was replaced by Bob "Sid" Falck. In 1988 Overkill went into the studio once again with Alex Perialas and the result was released as Under the Influence. The album was a smaller setback and it felt a bit rushed compared to the bands earlier work. But the song "Hello From the Gutter" was played frequently on MTV's Headbangers Ball.
THE YEARS OF DECAY AND HORRORSCOPE (1989-1992)
In 1989 Overkill released the highly succesful The Years of Decay album. The album was produced by Terry Date whom was known for his work with Pantera. The album spanned a wider range of songs and longer and more intricate sound structures. The band even recorded a doom metal song in the ten-minute song Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher. But the uptempo thrasher Elimination was the song that the band made a video for. Overkill then toured with Testament to promote their new album. In 1990 came a huge blow for the band when guitarist and song-writer Bobby Gustafson decided to leave the band. To fill his shoes the band recruited two guitarists Rob Cannavino and Merritt Gant.
The fans were afraid that the reborn Overkill would have a hard time continuing without Bobby but Overkill once again entered the studio with Terry Date and the result was released in 1991 under the name Horrorscope. The worries was silenced very quickly and Horrorscope was a huge success and the album is often considered as one of the best records the band has ever produced. But during the Horrorscope tour Sid Falck decided to leave the band since he wasn't that interested in thrash metal music at all. Sid was replaced by Tim Mallare of M.O.D..
THE GROOVY NINETIES (1993-1999)
The nineties was a confusing time for Overkill, After the huge success with Horrorscope, Overkill recorded the I Hear Black album together with Alex Parialas. It was the first album to be directly released through Atlantic Records and it was a departure from their early thrash sound.
The band adopted a more bluesy Black Sabbath-inspired sound. They recorded a video for the track Spiritual Void, but it passed by without much notice. In retrospect, I Hear Black can't be seen as anything else but a disappointment. In 1993 Overkill toured with Savatage.
In the summer of 1994 Overkill released another album, it was titled W.F.O. which stands for Wide Fuckin' Open. It was a slight return to their thrashier roots but when it comes to song-writing the album wasn't on par with their more successful past. The video for Fast Junkie was pretty much ignored by the media because of the ongoing Grunge era. Overkill once again toured Europe, this time with Jag Panzer and Massacra.
W.F.O. wasn't the success the band hoped for and in 1995 the band left Atlantic Records.
In 1995 Overkill released their first live album called Wrecking Your Neck. In late 1995 both guitarists Merrit Gant and Rob Cannavino left the band and in came Joe Comeau, former vocalist in speed metal band Liege Lord. Overkill also recruited formed Anvil guitarist Sebastian Marino. The new lineup hired Judas Priest producer Chris Tsangarides for their 1996 album, The Killing Kind. The album was another change in direction and Overkill adopted a modern groove / thrash metal style. The band toured with the likes of Accuser and Anvil to promote the album.
In 1997 Overkill released the album "!!!Fuck You!!! and then some", which featured their old Fuck You Ep together with a bunch of live tracks.
In late '97 Overkill released their ninth studio album, titled From the Underground and Below. The album was a slight return to their a thrashier sound but the album still was a very modern product. In 1998 Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth got cancer in his nose and he had successful surgery to remove it. After his recovery Overkill started recording their tenth studio album titled Necroshine. The album was released in 1999 and it was another modern sounding album. With Necroshine, Overkill became the first thrash metal band to release ten full-lengths. In 1999 guitarist Sebasian Marino left the band and in stepped Dave Linsk.
In 1999 Overkill tried to replicate Metallica's success with their cover album Garage Inc. The result was released in 1999 titled Coverkill, it featured covers of songs from bands like Black Sabbath, Ramones, Kiss, Motörhead and Manowar. The band then went on tour with Canadian thrashers Annihilator. During their tour together Annihilator fired their vocalist Randy Rampage and Joe Comeau was recruited to Annihilator.
THE NEW ERA (2000-2009)
In 2000 Overkill went into the studio as a four-piece band and the album Bloodletting was released in 2000. It was produced by Colin Richardson. The band then went on tour with Halford and Joe Comeau stepped in to do the live gigs. When D.D. Verni was away for a few gigs while his wife was giving birth the band hired Derek "The Skull" Tailer to fill in on the bass. He was later hired as the bands new guitarist.
After a short break Overkill returned in 2002 with the Wrecking Everything and the bands first DVD Wrecking Everything was released.
In 2002, Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth suffered from a minor stroke on stage but he once again recovered from a serious illness.
Overkill signed to Spitfire Records and released their Killbox 13 through the label in the spring of 2003. The album was a step in the right direction toward the more classic Overkill sound.
In 2005, Ron Lipnicki became Overkill's new drummer and the band released ReliXIV later the same year. Then Overkill signed up with the Bodog Music label, which was co-owned by Jon Zazula, whom signed Overkill back in the mid eighties. In 2007 Overkill released Immortalis.
In 2009 Overkill signed a multi-album deal with Nuclear Blast. As a result of the deal Overkill recorded and released Ironbound in 2010.
THE ELECTRIC AGE (2011-2017)
In 2011 Overkill started writing songs for their upcoming album, The Electric Age. The album was released in the spring of 2012. To support the album Overkill went on with Testament, Flotsam and Jetsam and 4Arm. Once again Bobby 'Blitz' became ill, this time in Pneumonia so Overkill dropped out of the tour. In 2013, Overkill returned to work and strted writing their seventeenth studio-album. The album was titled White Devil Armory and was released in 2014. Overkills' popularity as risen with a few strong albums in a row and White Devil Armory was the band's most successful album to date, peaking at #31 on the Billboard charts.
After touring with Symphony X, Overkill started recording another album in 2016. The album will be out by early 2017, titled The Grinding Wheel. In 2017 drummer Jason Bittner joined the band.
THE WINGS OF WAR (2018-2022)
In 2021 Overkill released The Wings of War. Due to covid the band didn't play any live shows for over 600 days.
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