OVERKILL's BOBBY 'BLITZ' ELLSWORTH Doesn't Think Drive-In Concerts Are Right For His Band

June 25, 2020

In a new interview with MetalgodZradiO, OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth was asked if he has given any thought to the idea of the band playing drive-in concerts amid the coronavirius pandemic. He responded (hear audio below): "Somebody presented it to me. It wasn't presented from a serious note of 'I have this set up' but what would I think of it. For me, it didn't really trip my trigger. I don't mind people thinking out of the box. I don't necessarily know that that's for OVERKILL or our genre. And this is thinking for myself — not thinking for other people.

"I think one of the things that make OVERKILL happen is that it's a very close personal relationship we have with an audience," he continued. "You can't do an OVERKILL show without an audience. You can't do a lot of shows without an audience. You couldn't do a SLAYER show without an audience. The audience actually becomes the next member of the band — in OVERKILL's case, the sixth member; for instance, in SLAYER's case, the fifth member of the band. Without that member there, I think it lacks. Sure, it's a performance — you get to see it — but the energy that an audience gives a band and a band gives an audience is what makes thrash metal shows explode or makes them unique onto themselves, that you can't just do a lip synch-ish-type approach to things."

Earlier in the month, Ellsworth confirmed to A&P Reacts that OVERKILL is working on material for a new studio album.

Bobby is currently promoting "American Made", the debut album from the BPMD project, also featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, SONS OF APOLLO),bassist Mark Menghi (METAL ALLEGIANCE) and guitarist Phil Demmel (VIO-LENCE, ex-MACHINE HEAD). Released on June 12 via Napalm Records, the LP is described in a press release as a "10-track homage to some of rock music's greatest treasures."

OVERKILL has spent the last year touring in support of its 19th studio album, "The Wings Of War", which was released in February 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was recorded at Gear Recording Studio in New Jersey, SKH Studio in Florida and Jrod Productions with engineering handled by bassist D.D. Verni and guitarist Dave Linsk. The album was produced by the band while Chris "Zeuss" Harris took care of the mixing and mastering. Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH) was again enlisted to create the artwork for the album.

"The Wings Of War" marked OVERKILL's recording debut with drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM),who joined the band in 2017.

Find more on Overkill

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).