OVERKILL To Record New Album This Spring/Summer For Possible Late 2026 Release

During a March 11 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", 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. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think we're always working on new music. That's been the motif since all the way back in the [early OVERKILL] days. You're always kind of in a writing mode. You're keeping your eyes open, you're in a writing mode, or at least my end of it. But we look to record it maybe at the end of [our upcoming U.S.] tour [with TESTAMENT and DESTRUCTION]. It's pretty much done musically. I have to add a few melody lines and a few harmonies and melodies and a few lyrics here and there. But we're looking at a '27 tour [and] maybe a late '26 release."

Asked if he and his OVERKILL bandmates are going to perform any new music on the tour with TESTAMENT and DESTRUCTION, which is scheduled to kick off on March 14 in Portland, Oregon, Blitz said: "No, we're not. We're just gonna get out there on the road and stretch our legs again. It's gonna feel good. [OVERKILL bassist] D.D.'s [Verni] been going through a rehab for a long period of time with his shoulders and stuff, so it's kept everybody from going out and doing this stuff. I think he's gone through three operations at this point — it's, like, two on the right and one on the left, and all three of them are rotator cuff injuries. I'm just looking to get out there and sing again."

He added: "I think this period of time and the pandemic were the times that I've done the least amount of shows in my career, since even before I was signed, running around at [legendary Brooklyn, New York club] L'Amours or out in Staten Island or some of the Jersey clubs."

Asked if D.D. is going to be able to take part in OVERKILL's U.S. tour with TESTAMENT and DESTRUCTION, Blitz said: "No, he's not gonna be able to do [those shows]. Christian [Olde Wolbers] from FEAR FACTORY's coming out. He sat in for D.D. in '24. But that's when D.D. only had one operation, so D.D. did some of [the shows], but this one, it's just too much. He just said he couldn't do it."

Olde Wolbers previously filled in for Verni 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.

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.

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.."

In September 2025, 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."

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.