Overcharge – Accelerate

When you name your band Overcharge and put out an album called “Accelerate”, there’s only one thing the release should deliver: energy. This quick outburst of music lasts less than a half hour but delivers double the enthusiasm of most bands out there these days. The style the band plays on “Accelerate” is really indescribable because it’s a huge mash-up of other styles. Their name says it best though: Overkill + Discharge. Throw in a lot of Motorhead influence, and you’ve got a rock ‘n roll album with some hardcore, punk, thrash, and even a bit of death metal influence.

Every track on this record on this album completely rocks. They’re all upbeat and a lot of fun. In general, punk riffs tend to dominate; the riffs are short, simplistic, but relatively fast. The metal influence takes hold in the vocals. They’re relatively low grunts that are somewhere between death metal vocals and harsher thrash ones. The lyrics are, for the most part, unintelligible. There are a couple of moments of easy to understand lyrics though; lead singer Fabio spends the last moments of “Dirt” screaming the word over and over, as one example. Beyond the vocals, however, the best part of this release is the guitar work. This is where the Motorhead and rock influence shines through. Guitar solos appear often, can become incredibly bluesy, and are just flat out awesome. The best solo is on “Leave Behind”, where the band ignores their punk roots and breaks down into a mellower, melodic section. It isn’t necessarily the fact that the band tames things down that makes this section great, but rather that they do whatever they want and it fits in perfectly. 

Aside from that one unique section, the band generally maintains their standard sound on “Accelerate”. Because it’s such a short album, there is no need for experimentation, especially when Overcharge is so good at delivering this style. As you might imagine, this means the songwriting can run together a bit. There are definitely some obvious standout sections; the extended solo in “Drown In Your Own” is a highlight, as is the false ending in “Don’t Waste A Breath”. But when a song starts, it generally takes a while to know which one is playing. “Accelerate” is exactly the type of album that is not harmed by this approach because of its brevity. This album is awesome, but more importantly it’s fun. “Accelerate” is an album you can throw on, forget all of your troubles, and rock out to.

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Highlights

"Accelerate"

"Dirt"

"Leave Behind"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott