OVERKILL Recruits Ex-FEAR FACTORY Bassist CHRISTIAN OLDE WOLBERS For March/April 2026 'Thrash Of The Titans' Tour

Ex-FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Olde Wolbers will once again fill in for OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni on the New Jersey thrash metal veterans' upcoming U.S. tour as the support act for TESTAMENT. Additional support on the "Thrash Of The Titans" trek, which will launch in March, will come from German thrashers DESTRUCTION.

Earlier today (Sunday, January 18),Olde Wolbers shared an admat for the "Thrash Of The Titans" tour and he included the following message: "See you guys and gals out there on the 'Thrash Of The Titans' Tour!"

Olde Wolbers previously filled in for Verni — who is dealing with an ongoing "shoulder issue" — in the fall of 2024 when OVERKILL supported KING DIAMOND on a North American tour.

For some of its European shows in September 2024, OVERKILL recruited ex-KREATOR bassist Christian "Speesy" Giesler as a temporary replacement for Verni.

In a 2024 interview with Portugal's Caminhos Metálicos, OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth addressed Verni's physical ailment, saying: "D.D.'s got a shoulder issue that's been going on for this entire time, even back to [2019's] 'The Wings Of War' [album], it was beginning back then. So I think that the amount of shows that we did was actually a light amount. We would normally do more shows, if he was healthy enough to do them. And he's gotta rehab that shoulder, so he can only do so much, put so much stress on it."

Verni also sat out OVERKILL's April 2024 Latin American tour while he was recovering from shoulder surgery. Filling in for him on the trek was former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson.

In a July 204 interview with That Metal Interview, Verni stated about his shoulder issue: "It's not so much playing, 'cause I can play; it's really just tours where I have to play night after night after night, 'cause that's what kind of did the damage in the first place. So, we'll see, I'll keep working as hard as I can, but if I have to keep doing little bits and pieces till I can get up to full strength, that's what I'll do."

Asked how he felt watching Ellefson play his parts at the OVERKILL shows that he missed, Verni said: "Oh, in some ways it's kind of cool. I mean, I've known David forever, and he's a great player. If I could pick anybody [to fill in for me], it would probably be him or Frank [Bello from] ANTHRAX. I think both of them are great players.

'You hate to miss shows — everybody hates to miss shows — 'cause it's just so much fun," D.D. continued. "But it wasn't as weird as I thought it was gonna be. It would be, like, 'Okay. This is okay. This will be okay.' And the guys in the band all know [David] too, so it was kind of like a friend of yours taking your car for a ride… That was kind of the vibe.

"It's a little weird — I get it — for fans," Verni admitted. "Like when I see people that filled in for Charlie Benante [in ANTHRAX]. It's, like, 'Wow, it's ANTHRAX without [Charlie].' Or [original ANTHRAX bassist] Danny Lilker was playing with ANTHRAX [in early 2024], and without Frank, it's like… Any time a guy that you're used to seeing is not there, it's kind of weird. But that's kind of the world we live in now. Sometimes you have to miss some shows, and you just hope that you get somebody who's kind of a great player to fill in.

"Did you ever think AC/DC would do a show without Brian Johnson?" Verni added. "My God. It was a little weird, but Axl [Rose] did a pretty good job. It was pretty good, I gotta say. It's either that or not playing, and I think at the end of the day, the music is kind of the best thing. So, that's the way it has to go sometimes."

OVERKILL recently entered the studio to begin recording the follow-up to 2023's "Scorched" album for a tentative late 20226 release.

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

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

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