OVERKILL To Use Stand-In Bassist For Some Shows In September, Says BOBBY 'BLITZ' ELLSWORTH

In a new interview with Portugal's Caminhos Metálicos, OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth spoke about the band's touring schedule, having played around 50 gigs during 2023 and early 2024. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If you're in shape for it, you're in shape for it. It doesn't matter. When it ends, it ends. That's the thing. Something's gotta break. And so far nothing's broken. I mean, you can hear it on the on the [latest OVERKILL] record [2023's 'Scorched']. I'm talking about me personally. But then, to the contrary, D.D.'s [Verni, OVERKILL bassist] got a shoulder issue that's been going on for this entire time, even back to the last record, [2019's] 'The Wings Of War', 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… Then we do another tour coming up in September, and he's only gonna do — I think he's gonna do maybe 10 shows and then he's gonna go home and we're gonna have a replacement for him. So I suppose unless it breaks, in my situation, I can just keep going. My voice is clean. It's powerful. You can hear it on the record. I can bring that to the live stage. I can still move around. No broken bones. [Laughs] So let's play. This is what we do."

He added: "If you listen to 'Scorched', you can tell that we're in this for life, that we're lifers, that it's a lifestyle as opposed to just a career. So, to not be able to play 100 shows a year, it's a little bit disappointing because that's what I'm used to doing."

Verni sat out OVERKILL's April 2024 Latin American tour as he was recovering from shoulder surgery. Filling in for him on the trek was former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. Verni returned to the live stage on May 17 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest at The Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

OVERKILL's 10-date "Scorching Latin America 2024" tour kicked off on April 11 in Guadalajara, Mexico and included stops in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru before closing on April 28 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

OVERKILL will support KING DIAMOND on a North American tour this fall. The "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" trek will commence on October 15 in San Antonio, Texas and run through December 6 in Dallas, Texas. Additional support on the tour will come from NIGHT DEMON.

"Scorched" was released in April 2023 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP offered a new recording environment for OVERKILL as all members were able to record on their own. The mixing of the record was handled by Colin Richardson and his assistant engineer Chris Clancy. Johnny Rodd helped with producing vocals, and finally, Maor Appelbaum took over mastering and adding finishing touches. The band returned to artist Travis Smith to create the album cover art.

Richardson previously worked with OVERKILL on 1997's "From The Underground And Below", 2000's "Bloodletting" and 2003's "Killbox 13" albums.

Photo credit: Frank White