By Peter Lindblad
 |
| Overkill - White Devil Armory 2014 |
Spreading the disease, so to speak, the East Coast thrash-metal stalwarts today unleashed an "in your face" new performance video for the raging, white-hot "Armorist," their newest single, and in typical Over Kill fashion, it is intense and full of righteous fury.
Debuting exclusively via NOISEY MUSIC, the clip was directed by Kevin J. Custer, who is no stranger to Over Kill or its fans. He was the mastermind behind videos for "Bring Me the Night,"off 2010's Ironbound, and "Electric Rattlesnake" from Over Kill's blazing 2012 inferno, The Electric Age. You can use this link to view the video for yourself: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/overkill-armorist-video-premiere
Custer doesn't go in for flashy concepts or high art in his visual treatment of "Armorist." Filmed in what appears to be a large empty warehouse or urban loft that, if nothing else, looks fairly clean, the "Armorist" video is edited with frenetic quick cuts, ratcheting up the already unbearable tension and ferocity of a fast song that is no-frills thrash conceived by junkyard dogs. And this is what Over Kill is like in a live setting, uncompromising and full of venomous energy.
Swept up in an F-5 tornado of bare-knuckled shredding and brutal drumming, Bobby Blitz's gritty vocal bark rises above the mayhem, like a rabid hyena hungry for flesh and blood, and the tempo is blistering, with crunching, raw riffs that grab you by the throat and throw you into a pit of hell fire – the band going for broke, or least acting that way. When Blitz declares himself to be the "swift cold hand of retaliation," be prepared to duck and cover. He means business.
Although it'll undoubtedly whet appetites for White Devil Armory, the song itself is pretty straightforward, although it does changes courses abruptly near the end. While not letting up on the sheer aggression of instrumentation that snarls and growls, this devastating breakdown, accomplished with tight precision and focus, somehow manages to turn the track inside-out, as if it wants to chew off its own arm. Of course, this isn't some sort of arty prog-metal experiment drawn over a half hour. "Armorist" is explosive and volatile, and is meant to be experienced in small doses.
Over Kill's White Devil Armory comes out July 22 on eOne Music in North America and can be pre-ordered here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/white-devil-armory-deluxe/id891824898?ls=1
