OVERKILL Will 'Definitely' Release New Studio Album In 2026: 'We Are Demoing Stuff Right Now'

In a new interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com, OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni was asked 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:  "We are demoing stuff right now. We probably have maybe nine or 10 songs kind of scratched out that I gave to Blitz [OVERKILL singer Bobby Ellsworth] 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 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.

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".

Last November, 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.