OVERKILL Singer Says 'White Devil Armory' Has 'More Dimension' Than 'The Electric Age'

On July 7, Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com conducted an interview with vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On OVERKILL's new album, "White Devil Armory", which will be released on July 22 in North America via eOne Music and on July 18 in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records:

Ellsworth: "I thought [2012's] 'The Electric Age' was a great thrash record, but it was missing that one dimension that rounds OVERKILL out. I mean, there are many elements that make us up, but still at the end of the day, we're identifiable, we're OVERKILL, there's no identity crisis; it’s pretty simple. But it was missing some of the songs like 'Bitter Pill', which is, like, a half time, or something that has kind of a rock and roll vibe to it, like 'It's All Yours' or the punky vibe of 'Pig'. This was the thing to me that says, OK, that makes all of OVERKILL. Sure, 'thrash' is the word of the day, and in the pecking order, that's always gonna be Number One, and at the end of the day, you're gonna call it a thrash record. But still, it's gotta get there by steps, and I think that this has more dimension, more steps to it."

On whether OVERKILL is more popular than ever over three decades into the band's existence:

Ellsworth: "There's a great hunger for this stuff, which shows you that there's a great value to it. It's transcended generations. We have the 18-year-old, the 40-year-old dad, and, in some cases, the grandpa coming… my age. [laughs] But I think that shows value. So there seems to be that great hunger for it and a great new day for this. So my feeling is that, under those circumstances, it gives a band like OVERKILL the opportunity to be relevant in that current day, to not release that sounds like 1990, but is rooted in 1990, with current-day execution, current-day presentation. Let's take advantage. We're from New Jersey, we know how to manipulate. [laughs] And it would be wrong if we didn't, but in a good way, because it's not manipulation for a bad end, it's manipulation, or taking advantage of a situation, for a good end, because everybody wins if it's good music. So sure, it's been that amount of records, but in a good period of time rigtht now for 'White Devil Armory'."