OVERKILL's BOBBY 'BLITZ' ELLSWORTH Didn't Want Any 'Repetition' On 'White Devil Armory'

Vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL recently spoke to Artisan News about the band'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. The effort was tracked at Gear Recording and was mixed by Greg Reely, who also worked on 2012's "The Electric Age".

Speaking about what OVERKILL was trying to accomplish with "White Devil Armory", Ellsworth told Artisan News (see video below): "My personal motivation, and I can probably speak for my partner D.D. [Verni, bass], is that you don't want repetition. Obviously, we are what we are — a thrash metal band — [and] we fall into, let's say, a subgenre of this metal community, but the idea is that you wanna stay interested with it, you want to try, to some degree, to reinvent yourself. And I think the thing I'm most proud of when it comes to a record like Number 17, being 'White Devil Armory', is that that's the push for it. No repetition. Let's get in there and let's define that line between repetition and what style is. I write all these notes in my office where I have my little studio — 'Don't repeat yourself,' 'Don't use this,' 'Don't use that' — and that becomes kind of the flavor of the writing: Stay relevant, great execution, modern presentation. Make Number 17 relevant in 2014."

Ellsworth previously told Steppin' Out magazine that "White Devil Armory" "has a blend of what we've done over the past half decade. I'm noticing it's a more punchy heavy metal record with more dimension than the last record had. Where is it going to end up on the food chain? I really don't know. But my feeling is it's an eclectic collection of moments from us. 'The Electric Age' came across, to me, as kind of a two-dimensional thrash record. This one is punchy but has a whole different bunch of ways to go and things to hear on it."

The limited-edition box-set version of "White Devil Armory" includes a digipack CD, a leather belt and buckle plus a certificate of authenticity. It is available for pre-order from Nuclear Blast.

OVERKILL recently filmed videos for the songs "Bitter Pill" and "Armorist" with veteran director Kevin J. Custer (HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SUFFOCATION). Custer previously worked with OVERKILL on the "Electric Rattlesnake" and "Bring Me The Night" clips.

"White Devil Armory" track listing:

01. Freedom Rings
02. Where There's Smoke...
03. Pig
04. Armorist
05. Down To The Bone
06. Bitter Pill
07. King Of The Rat Bastards
08. Another Day To Die
09. It's All Yours
10. In The Name

The cover artwork for "White Devil Armory" can be seen below.

"The Electric Age" sold 6,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 77 on The Billboard 200 chart.