Overkill Have Begun Writing Their Next Album

Overkill frontman Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, also of BPMD (featuring Mike Portnoy, Phill Demmel, and Mark Menghi), was our guest on last week’s episode of The MetalSucks Podcast. While much of the interview centered around his work with BPMD, we couldn’t let the opportunity slip by to ask him about new Overkill music even though it’s only been a year and a few months since The Wings of War came out.

Blitz took a humorous approach to the question, informing us:

“He who dies with the most toys wins. We’re doing record #63. [Laughs]

“Of course, one of the great things about this band is that it’s always worked — for me it’s a great thing in that it keeps you in a vibe, in a mood, in a presentation mode — but I like it that the material is always fresh. We’re taking advantage of our current world situation and writing the next one. And I think that’s the way it should be because it lends itself to a certain normality in our houses anyway. To be able to say, ‘Okay, shit’s a little greasy and a little bad out there right now, a little bit upside-down and what’s normal.’

“Listen man, I’m looking at the studio I did the last four records in, sitting in the same room with you right now [virtually], and that’s normal to me. We are using this time to make a better record.”

You gotta appreciate that tenacity, and I’m sure it’s that focused drive which made The Wings of War such a fan-favorite upon its release. Overkill never achieved the mainstream success of many of their thrash peers, but perhaps that’s what’s kept the fire burning.

Elsewhere in the podcast we spoke to Bobby about the new BPMD album, American Made, breaking it down track by track as he shares his memories of seeing those songs (which are all covers) performed live in the 1970s, the origin of Overkill starting off as a cover band, and how they sent their versions of the songs to the original artists for feedback. Listen below.