{"id":53859,"date":"2017-02-01T20:06:06","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T01:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=53859"},"modified":"2017-02-01T20:06:06","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T01:06:06","slug":"overkill-the-grinding-wheel-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/overkill-the-grinding-wheel-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Overkill | The Grinding Wheel"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Brenda McTaggart<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there\u2019s anything special in the water in the state of New Jersey, but whatever it is that continues to deliver thoroughbred bands of the Rock and Metal genres that continue to enthral us is showing no signs of dying away. Still thrashing at full throttle with the pedal to the metal, Bobby \u2018Blitz\u2019 Ellsworth and Overkill (there must definitely be a fountain of youth somewhere in New Jersey) are back and smashing it triumphantly with an 18th studio album – The Grinding Wheel<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The Grinding Wheel<\/em> opens in scorching fashion with the classic Overkill trademark of booming double bass drums from Lipnicki and builds into something that can only be described as pure fury with the mighty \u201cMean Green Killing Machine,\u201d which is a standout track.<\/p>\n

This album also has quite a lot of gear and teeth grinding going on, as this grit and diversity cuts to the core and pulls no punches in \u201cRed White And Blue,\u201d which launches into an all-out Punk attack. And it\u2019s not the only Punkish effort on this record; something the band decided to bring back to its sound in 2010, when they released Ironbound<\/em>. According to D.D Verni, Punk, it seems, continues to be a huge influence for the band. <\/p>\n

Penned by Ellsworth and Verni, this album shakes, rattles and rolls from beginning to end and has the distinct feeling that they\u2019ve mixed it up a little by systematically going back to their roots. They\u2019ve jammed everything into it, including Bluesy riffs as well as Thrash, Groove and Punk. The Grinding Wheel has metaphorically speaking brought the proverbial \u201cwhat goes around comes around\u201d to your doorstep.<\/p>\n

This record, in all its glory, is a reflection of the teeth gritting grind the band has gone through for almost four decades. It\u2019s almost like Ellsworth and the boys would like us all to know exactly how they got here with the lyrics, “can\u2019t you see it was meant to be,” which is belted out in the third track, \u201cOur Finest Hour\u201d in classic old-school thrashing manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome Heavy\u201d has a swinging sexiness that echoes the classic touch of Black Sabbath, and an Iron Maiden influence is strong in \u201cThe Long Road.\u201d In these two, especially, it\u2019s very evident that Verni brings something phenomenal to every song, and although guitars are perfection, it\u2019s the bass that seems to be in complete control, soaring above the guitar at times; Verni isn\u2019t holding anything back on this album. <\/p>\n

The record continues with tons of enthusiastic energy; there isn\u2019t a lazy track on it, and it isn\u2019t just 10 epic Thrash tracks that we heard on the likes of the band\u2019s last release White Devil Armory, no \u2013 this is something else \u2013 Retro v Modern even. But it has this reviewer thinking that Ellsworth is relentless and lives somewhere between chaos and logic, as we have a record here that feels 100 percent thrash but sounds like he has let his mischievousness go wild. Frontman Bobby \u201cBlitz\u201d Ellsworth says, \u201cGrinding on! Here we come again kids, strapped to the Grinding Wheel! Bang your head.\u201d He isn\u2019t joking either. <\/p>\n

\u201cLets All Go To Hades\u201d promises nothing short of pandemonium in the pit, and it sounds like it\u2019s going to be a hell of a lot of fun, too. The album closes on \u201cThe Wheel\u201d and the title track \u201cThe Grinding Wheel.\u201d Both of these tracks are immense with deep groove and slashing solos, true to the absolute unrelenting top form that Overkill seems to be enjoying, and sure, why not? This album is a statement; \u201cWe are here, and we ain\u2019t going away anytime soon.\u201d The writing on this album is impeccable, and although diverse, this record is in no way falling off the beaten path. With the release of The Grinding Wheel, Overkill has proven, it is without a doubt, that they are the apex predators when it comes to Thrash Metal. Overkill is to be respected and revered for the very fact that the band can produce this high standard of music and still keep it sounding fresh and interesting after almost 40 years, as well as the one bloomin\u2019 thing we all crave \u2013 entertainment. <\/p>\n

Genre: Thrash Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nD.D. Verni
\nBobby “Blitz” Ellsworth
\nDave Linsk
\nDerek “The Skull” Tailer
\nRon Lipnicki<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. \u201cMean Green Killing Machine\u201d
\n2. \u201cGoddamn Trouble\u201d
\n3. \u201cOur Finest Hour\u201d
\n4. \u201cShine On\u201d
\n5. \u201cThe Long Road\u201d
\n6. \u201cLet\u2019s All Go to Hades\u201d
\n7. \u201cCome Heavy\u201d
\n8. \u201cRed White and Blue\u201d
\n9. \u201cThe Wheel\u201d
\n10. \u201cThe Grinding Wheel\u201d<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Web: www.wreckingcrew.com<\/a> – www.facebook.com\/overkillwreckingcrew<\/a> – www.nuclearblast.de\/overkill<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 10 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Brenda McTaggart – Columnist — There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there\u2019s anything special in the water in the state of New Jersey, but whatever it is that continues to deliver thoroughbred bands […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":53860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15128],"tags":[10013,2317,13073,339,1031,13072,1101],"class_list":{"0":"post-53859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2017","8":"tag-bobby-blitz-ellsworth","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-ironbound","11":"tag-nuclear-blast","12":"tag-overkill","13":"tag-the-grinding-wheel","14":"tag-thrash-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}