OVERKILL's BOBBY 'BLITZ' ELLSWORTH: Why 'Obamacare' Wouldn't Work For Me

Hardrockhaven.net conducted an interview with vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of New Jersey thrash metal veterans OVERKILL on November 5 at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if he got to keep his health insurance since his bout with pneumonia which forced OVERKILL to drop off the "Dark Roots Of Thrash" tour with TESTAMENT in February, Ellsworth said: "This whole thing affects me a little differently, because my wife is, she's a Dutch citizen. So I can get insurance through The Netherlands, and have been. I mean, it covers me here. Because of the way I travel, the policy that I would have to have, even from 'Mr. Everybody Can Afford It Now,' [laughs] would be tens of thousands of dollars, because you're going to places that, in some cases, are Third World countries, and [they would say to me], 'We're not covering this, we're not covering that.' But we have this policy that was… It's not cheap, but it covers everything. If I get sick in Russia, they'll fly me to Germany because the hospital is better, and then fly my wife from the U.S. to be with me in Germany, and pay for the flights. And it's also a travel-slash-health insurance, so if we lose all our guitars and I have this insurance, we're covered. So it's pretty good. It's health insurance, but it insures the way I live."

He continued: "The whole Obamacare thing [a.k.a Affordable Care Act] wouldn't have worked for me; it was out of control. And it won't cover me in other places, that's thing. You go to a Third World country and 'you don't have your shot for this, you're gonna get dysentery and we're not covering it.' So… It's really a joke, actually. [laughs]"

OVERKILL is putting the finishing touches on its new album for March 2014 release in North America via eOne Music and in Europe through Nuclear Blast Records.

Speaking to Steppin' Out magazine, Ellsworth stated about the upcoming CD: "The new record 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."

As previously reported, OVERKILL released a very special limited tour edition of its latest album, "The Electric Age", in Europe on April 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The limited 2CD tour edition includes the regular album as well as a four additional live tracks on a bonus CD, recorded at The Metro in Sidney, Australia on September 25, 2010.

"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.