OVERKILL Is '10 Songs Deep' In Songwriting For Next Studio Album

In a new interview with SLAM: Music Survival Guide, OVERKILL singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to their latest album, "Scorched", which came out in April 2023 via Nuclear Blast. "We're 10 songs deep at this point… It's gonna be a full year. We've gotta, make sure D.D.'s happening to get all this stuff together," he said, referencing OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni's recent shoulder surgery and ongoing recovery (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "If not, I'm sure we'll make it, and the studio will be fine."

He continued: "When [D.D.] does his other band [DD VERNI & THE CADILLAC BAND], it's totally different than punching holes in the floor because he plays that bass as low as anyone ever in the history of metal. I mean, that shit sits right on shoe tops, and I think it's probably one of the reasons he has a bad shoulder. But it's gonna be business as usual. [There'll] be a ton of new news coming out pretty soon. We're 10 songs deep. I expect to be recording by January, and let's see — let's see what happens from there."

As previously reported, OVERKILL will support San Francisco Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT on the U.S. leg of their "Thrash Of The Titans" world tour. The trek, which will launch in March, will feature additional support from German thrashers DESTRUCTION.

Last October, Ellsworth told the Metal Mayhem ROC podcast that he and his OVERKILL bandmates had "demoed out" the material for the group's upcoming album. "Jeramie Kling's playing drums for us now," he said. "[Former OVERKILL drummer] Jason Bittner moved on to other things… So we're just moving along as if there is no issue with D.D.."

Last September, Verni, who is the main songwriter in OVERKILL, told Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com about OVERKILL's upcoming LP:  "We are demoing stuff right now. We probably have maybe nine or 10 songs kind of scratched out that I gave to Blitz a little while ago. Usually the process is I'll demo everything up musically [and] then I'll give it to Blitz. He'll spend some time with it and kind of do his thing with them. Then we get everybody together, kind of that. So I gave it to Blitz maybe not too long ago."

As for a possible release date for the new OVERKILL album, Verni said: "I would think next year, for sure. Just when will it be — spring? Will it be fall? Somewhere in there. But [in] '26 [there] will definitely be a new OVERKILL record."

In August 2024, OVERKILL confirmed Kling as the group's new drummer. Kling joined the veteran New Jersey thrash metal outfit as the replacement for Bittner, who announced his exit from OVERKILL earlier that month.

A founding member of THE ABSENCE, Kling appeared on VENOM INC.'s second album, 2022's "There's Only Black", and has played with such acts as FORE, RIBSPREADER, GOREGÄNG and NECROMANCING THE STONE. He was also briefly affiliated with the reunited Florida death metal band MASSACRE, which led to the formation of INHUMAN CONDITION, alongside Terry Butler (OBITUARY, ex-DEATH) and Taylor Nordberg (DEICIDE). In addition to being a drummer, Kling is a recording engineer, producer and live sound engineer.

Bittner joined OVERKILL in 2017 and played drums on the band's last two studio albums, 2019's "The Wings Of War" and the aforementioned "Scorched".

In November 2024, Jason admitted to "Reckless" Rexx Ruger of Pod Scum that he "hadn't been happy" in OVERKILL "for, like, two fucking years. It wasn't a surprise that I quit. I'd been dissatisfied for a long time, but I'm a team player. I don't like to leave things. I love the guys personally. So I just kind of just hung in there, but I was not happy where I was career-wise, let's say, within the confines of that band. I wasn't a bandmember. And that's the main thing for me to keep doing this at this point in my lifetime." He added that he felt he wasn't "being paid fairly" for his time" but clarified that there was "no animosity" and called his decision to leave "just a business thing." He explained: "I can play five shows with SHADOWS FALL and make more money than playing 30 with OVERKILL."

In September 2024, Verni told Capital Chaos TV about Bittner's departure: "We kind of knew that that was coming. He had told us a while ago that he was just kind of burned out on too many things and had his hands in too many pots. So I think we kind of knew that was coming."

OVERKILL played its first concert with Kling on August 30, 2024 at the Posada Rock festival in Câmpulung Muscel, Romania.