Like many other thrash acts from the 80’s,
Overkill returned to their old-school roots around the time thrash started
popping up everywhere again. Whether you consider it to be bandwagoning or a
surge of inspiration from all of the young bands around, it’s hard to deny that
“Ironbound” was an impressive record. “The Electric Age” showed the band
settling into a more standard sound, and was a bit of a letdown after the
brilliance of “Ironbound”. “White Devil Armory” shows the band keeping up their
prolific pace, and the good news is that Overkill has put together a pretty
solid effort with this album.
The first song on this record is the
single, “Armorist”. The lyrics are a bit strange, but once you get past that
issue, the music is absolutely pummeling. On first listen, this song was a bit
underwhelming, but with successive listens, its brilliance became clear. The
song brings a much-welcomed burst of speed, with the aggression that only
Overkill can deliver (likely a part of that New Jersey attitude). Over the
course of the next few songs, Overkill continues to pump out memorable songs.
“Pig” is the definite highlight; it is another track that suffers from
disappointing lyrics, but the riffs slay, so that issue can be ignored. In
fact, the main riff of this song is on par with anything the band has written
since the first album. The chorus of this song shows a slight change in Blitz’
vocals. He is becoming a bit more distinct in his snarl (as if that were even
possible), but at the same time, it sounds as though some of his singing
ability is deteriorating slightly. On “Pig”, this new vocal sound is
particularly effective because of the attack in the vocal lines.
Another standout song is “Bitter Pill”.
This isn’t a doomy song per se (especially when compared to classics like
“Drunken Wisdom” and “Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher”), but it is certainly
slower and less thrashy than the rest of the record. About halfway through the
song, a Black Sabbath riff appears out of nowhere. It’s got the bouncy groove
that was extremely prominent on a record like “Vol. 4”, and it’s a great change
of pace for the album. Unfortunately this section is only about a minute long,
but it’s still nice to see the band trying new things. The next few songs bring
up the speed again (particularly "Where's There Smoke...", and are still top-grade songs. It isn’t until “Another Die
To Day” that there is a slight drop off in quality. The remainder of the record
is still enjoyable, and certainly none of the remaining songs are out of place,
but they lack the energy and catchiness that the earlier songs had.
One thing Overkill nailed on “White Devil
Armory” is the production. This is probably their best sounding record, mainly
because of the rhythm section. Anytime the double kicks are playing (which is
pretty often) the record because immensely heavy. D.D. Verni’s bass is also
very prominent; that’s nothing new for Overkill, but in tandem with the newly
electrified drums, it creates an even more crushing sound. This is even further compounded by the plentiful gang vocals that are scattered through the album.
I was very critical of “The Electric Age”,
perhaps because it couldn’t live up to “Ironbound”, or perhaps because it just
wasn’t a particularly great record. I would lean towards the latter reason, simply
because “White Devil Armory” has shown Overkill can still bring the heat. While “White Devil Armory” cannot reach the heights of “Ironbound”, it is still an enjoyable album in its own right.
Highlights
"Armorist"
"Pig"
"Bitter Pill"
Final Rating
4.3/5 or 86%.
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