Warthur For me, Horrorscope is where the Overkill sound which felt somehow like less than the sum of its parts on The Years of Decay really clicks together, bringing me onboard the Overkill train in a way its predecessor failed to. Perhaps part of the secret is the lineup shift; on the departure of Bobby Gustafson Overkill could have just replaced him with one guitarist, but instead they brought in both Rob Cannavino and Merritt Gant, and I think the switch to a dual lead approach really helped push their thrash to the next level. On top of that, Terry Date came in to do the production, which helped bring their new sound to the fore.

Vim Fuego When Overkill ditched their guitarist Bobby Gustafson in 1990, many predicted the end for thrash's most enduring band. Few guitarists in the genre have ever been able to match his chops and technique, and for many fans, his playing provided much of the band's personality. Fans were concerned Overkill without Gustafson would have been like Black Sabbath without Tony Iommi.

They needn't have worried. `Horrorscope' turned out to be Overkill's most mature and most consistent release of their career to that point. The new guitar duo of Merritt Gant and Rob Cannavino proved to be a match even for a guitarist as good as Gustafson, and helped revitalise the band.

"Coma" starts with a haunting acoustic intro, before letting loose with a full on double kick drum and power chord typhoon. Immediately obvious- two guitars are heavier than one. Where DD Verni had often had to sacrifice a little of the bottom end to fill the vacant mid ranges now sat a second guitar. While studio trickery meant the rhythm guitar never dropped out during solos on previous Overkill albums, two guitars proved to be far more versatile, flexible and heavier.

Overkill's unique character remained intact through the vocals of Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth. While Blitz is not the best vocalist ever, he's one of the most distinctive, and probably the most versatile to ever front a thrash metal band. From soaring pseudo-operatics on "Coma" to the pessimistic wailing of "Soulitude", Blitz covers a whole range of emotions, from rage to desperation, to bare faced aggression, sometimes within the space of a few lines.

Gustafson was hardly missed in the song writing department either. The band wrote riffs by the bucketload, with songs like "Blood Money" and "Thanx For Nothin'" featuring some of the best ever. There are a few slower, brooding songs with a feel similar to "Playing With Spiders/Skullcrusher" from previous album `The Years Of Decay', although the focus is more on an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness than just playing slow to hit low frequencies. The grinding bass-led intro to the title track is an unstoppable juggernaut, creating a theme the rest of the song to build off without ever lifting the tempo above lumbering. "New Machine" features a closing passage which creates robotic, automaton imagery like a scene from the movie ‘Metropolis’.

While Overkill had always dealt with dark themes, the lyrics here had none of the camp silliness of older songs like "Hello From The Gutter", "Brainfade" and "Hammerhead". Instead, the lyrics on `Horrorscope' pertain to living with a sense of hopelessness or helplessness, and the inevitability and finality of death. The closing couplet of "Nice Day... For A Funeral" and "Soulitude" reach the depths of sombre introspection. The songs deal in turn with death ("Yeah, the last of sunshine/Oh, ya know, for what it's worth/Nice day for a funeral") and its aftermath ("I remember here/Thought it was a dream/I never thought I'd come to this). While it may seem like a depressing way to finish an album, it is highly thought provoking.

Showing a maturity which only comes through self-confidence, `Horrorscope' wasn't exactly what fans were expecting, but few were disappointed by it. Overkill showed up more famous peers like Metallica, Megadeth and even Exodus, by shifting their focus without compromising their principles.

UMUR "Horrorscope" is the 5th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through Megaforce/Atlantic Records in September 1991. A major lineup change has taken place as original guitarist and composer Bobby Gustafson was fired from the band in 1990. Apparently because of growing tensions between him and bassist D.D. Verni over the direction of the band´s music. To replace Gustafson, the band added two guitarists in Rob Cannavino and Merritt Gant.

...if there were ever any doubts that Overkill could carry on without Gustafson, those doubts are blown to pieces by "Horrorscope". If anything, "Horrorscope" is an even better composed, better played, better produced, darker and more aggressive thrash metal album than both "Under The Influence (1988)" and "The Years Of Decay (1989)", which are both great albums in their own right. The most important thing though is that the music on the album sounds unmistakably like Overkill. The new guitarists are a great fit, providing a fierce rythm attack as well as playing blistering solos. The rabid dog sneer of Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth is intact and even a bit more aggressive than usual and when the rythm section also deliver the goods in a tight fashion like they do here, there´re little to complain about.

"Horrorscope" is positively loaded with great thrash metal tracks. Power as well as memorability are in the high seat all the way through the 53:05 minutes long album. Tracks like "Blood Money", "Thanx for Nothin´", the heavy title track, the instrumental "Frankenstein" and the closing power ballad type track "Soulitude" are among the highlights, but all material on the album are of high quality and most tracks kick ass in the most charming way possible. I say charming, because even though there are plenty of aggression on the album, there´s also plenty of that "gleam in the eye fuck you attitude" present on the album that has always made Overkill stand out from the crowd.

"Horrorscope" is what you can call Overkill´s peak or in other words their most accomplished album. They´ve yet to release a real stinker, but the quality of their output did sink slightly after "Horrorscope". They are still an admirably consistent act though so you´ll generally hear very little bad about them coming from my mouth. On "Horrorscope" everything came together in a way it rarely does on any release by any act though and a 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.

Diogenes After the departure of lead songwriter and guitarist Bobby Gustafson in 1990, Overkill adopted the following lineup for the next decade: Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth on vocals, D.D. Verni on bass, and whoever they wanted to play guitars for the band on that album. I’m exaggerating of course, although this band has gone through its fair share of shredders…anyway, this philosophy surprisingly worked the best on its first shot, which also happens to be the magnum opus of the band’s large discography. Behold, the magnificent Horrorscope! Pr-cheewwww! (thunder sound effects)

I really don’t have a good anecdote or witty throwaway joke for this one, so I’ll cut straight to the chase. The reason why Horrorscope is such a good album is that most, if not all the songs are highlights. Put this sucker on shuffle and you’re going to get a faceful of thrash, guaranteed. They’re all consistent and follow the same style; no gimmicks, no foolin’ around. Just plain Overkill. The only exception I would consider is the Edgar Winter cover, which, although it’s a well-done cover, doesn’t fit in the middle of the album (although if you have it on shuffle, it shouldn’t matter…see what I did there?). The first four tracks, Coma, Infectious, Blood Money, and Thanx for Nothin’ are all not only Overkill classics, but tracks that should populate every thrash fan’s library, whether they like Overkill or not. They are beyond highlights; they are higher-lights. You might be able to find them if you look up to the sky long enough. They all follow the general Overkill format for success: blistering mid-to upper-tempo riffs, catchy chorus lines with the occasional gang shouting, and Blitz spitting out the vocal venom like only he can. “Payment’s due and I’m collecting you!!” Yeah! And the “LiiiaaarrRRRRROOOOOWWWGGHH” at the end gives me chills. Every. Time. In fact, this album might have set an Overkill record for this sort of thing. There are just so many lines that you can quote when you’re pissed off, it’s unbelievable. “I adapt to nothing, and nothing pleases me! I’m a loaded pistol, just you wait and see!” Of course, thrash usually isn’t about the lyrics (especially nowadays with the ‘retro thrash’ clowns running around), but whenever you can sing along and mosh at the same time, the band should be given necessary props.

Now, there are some slower tracks towards the end of the album, most notably New Machine and Soulitude, but keep in mind that faster does not always equal better, and in this case Soulitude wraps the album up perfectly as a thrash ballad. Don’t be fooled, however…there is no “lack of thrash” here. This stuff kills, no matter what tempo they’re playing at.

Going back to the personnel, Horrorscope saw Blitz continuing to put more rasp into his vocals (which would benefit the band’s change of sound later on), so if they annoyed you on earlier Overkill releases, you might want to give this one a shot. There aren’t really any screeching falsettos on Horrorscope, and that might be a good thing, allowing you to take the music a bit more seriously…although this is thrash, so, no seriousness allowed! Erm. Yes, his vocals are great. Sid Falck makes his last appearance on drums, turning in another solid performance, although there is more straight-up double bass thrash drumming instead of rhythm changes and good stuff like that. The snare sound is a little thin, but it’s tolerable if you turn it up nice and LOUD, and every other part of Falck’s kit sounds fine, considering the time period this was recorded in. The guitar duo, Merritt Gant and Rob Cannavino, do exactly what you’d expect an Overkill guitar duo to do: shred the hell out of those strings. Riff after riff (the ones in Coma and Nice Day…for a Funeral are especially nice), lead after lead, these guys prove to be more than worthy replacing Gustafson, and Horrorscope wouldn’t have come out the way it did had there only been one guitar anyway. And of course, there’s D.D. Verni, loud in the mix as always, tearing it up on bass and shouting those backing vocals that gives the album that special Overkill flavor. Being led by two guitars instead of one, his bass takes a back seat rhythmically, but it’s still frolicking along in all its thumping glory. And, as a bonus, it doesn’t sound like a Windows 95 suffering from bronchitis this time! Yay!

Unfortunately, this was the last complete thrash album that Overkill released until Ironbound 20 years later, as their sound at this point had peaked and the band wisely started exploring a more groove-oriented style throughout the 90s. This just makes Horrorscope all the more impressive and enjoyable; it stands alone like a mountain climber finally reaching his destination after weeks (years, but hey) of hard work. Truly a thrash metal masterpiece. And remember kids, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!