Warthur Overkill hadn't quite exorcised the sound of the groove metal influence that had been developing over the years, but Ironbound does scale it back an awful lot and keeps the band focused more on their by now well-honed and keenly refined thrash metal style. To my ears, the groove metal only begins to come back in the later songs of the album, Overkill putting their best thrash foot forward with instant classic The Green and Black. Ironbound has been acclaimed as the beginning of a new high point in Overkill's creative accomplishments, and with thrash this good there's plenty to justify this opinion.

UMUR "Ironbound" is the 16th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through E1 Music/Nuclear Blast Records in January 2010. Overkill are one of the longest standing and hardest working US thrash metal acts but they haven´t always received the praise they deserve. "Ironbound" was generally very well received by critics and fans alike though.

The music on the album is aggressive and energetic thrash metal with some traditional heavy metal leanings (take a listen to the opening riff in "Bring Me the Night" for proof of that), delivered with the gleam in the eye "fuck You" attitude that Overkill have always been known for. Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth sings with a rare passion (not rare for him of course, he is always on fire) and his snarling delivery suits the music perfectly. The musicianship is tight as ever and to top it off the album features some really well played guitar solos. There are generally some killer material on "Ironbound", no better displayed than in the title tracK, which is the kind of track that leaves me completely out of breath. So much power and punishing riffing is almost too much (yet the track also features a short acoustic break and some blistering soloing). The fast paced and energetic video track "Bring Me the Night" is also a highlight in my book.

The album is very well produced featuring a metallic sounding production that suits Overkill´s music perfectly.

"Ironbound" is the kind of thrash metal release that´s impossible not to love. It features all the traits that makes thrash metal such a compelling sub genre of metal. Aggression, great energy, snarling attitude, strong musicianship and a powerful sound production to boot. This is in every way possible a high quality release and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Overkill mainstays Bobby Ellsworth and D.D Verni put in an excellent performance on their sixteenth album Ironbound, creating an album of modern Thrash Metal which keeps what is good about the Overkill sound and updates it for the present day, without compromising what made the band’s legacy.

New drummer Ron Lipincki deserves a special mention for his performance on this album, fitting in to the band perfectly and possessing an immense talent, his style isn’t flashy but he really knows how to play for this genre of music and plays with a real authority that gives the album a more three dimensional feel.

In pretty much every way, Ironbound is a pretty excellent album on a technical level; it follows the Thrash Metal formula perfectly but still contains variety. It has a great production job, good lyrics, better musicianship and superb guitar solos. Probably the album’s only flaw is that with this level of technical perfection the album is devoid of ‘character.’

There is nothing on here that sticks in your head for days on end, nothing that raises a wry smile and nothing that is truly unique. Whether or not you enjoy the album is entirely dependent on whether or not you can overlook this lack of character. Though the album lacks that special something which elevates it to classic album status it is far from being one to avoid and shouldn’t be overlooked.

If you haven’t bought an Overkill album since The Years of Decay then Ironbound is the Perfect album to get you into the bands more recent catalogue.

There is a lot to enjoy about Ironbound, from the jagged riffing on ‘In Vain,’ with its fast and heavy verses, to ‘Ironbound,’ which features a soulful Pink Floyd sounding guitar solo in the mid section of an otherwise textbook Thrash Metal number.

Highlight’s include ‘Killing For A Living,’ which evokes the spirit of tracks like ‘Feel The Fire,’ and ‘Evil Never Dies,’ without directly copying them, and the dynamic opener ‘Green and Black.’

If you like Overkill this Shiny Metallic Digipak full of hard, heavy and surprisingly diverse Thrash Metal is certainly worth your money, with its fantastic vocal performance and technically perfect songs being a good reason to check this album out. This may not be the greatest Overkill album ever made, but there is very little you can say against it.

Diogenes OHMYGAWD! This is ridiculous. Here we have all sorts of ancient thrash bands trying their darndest to play the real stuff again (resulting in some very mediocre attempts), while Overkill shifts gears almost effortlessly and releases something that takes a massive poo on everything else. Ironbound is the fifteenth album by the incumbent New York thrashers, and it makes one of the most powerful statements in today’s modern metal scene: Overkill is alive and well, perhaps now more than ever. And you know what that means? Pure ass-kickery, once again. That’s what this album is.

It’s no secret that the Overkill sound has changed over the years. Groove metal has made more and more of an appearance on each Overkill record, and while the band continued releasing some great material with it, they eventually fell into a rut around 2005. However, the groove sound has been pushed waaay back on this album, to the delight of myself and other thrash fans. There are genuine, true-blue thrash riffs aplenty on Ironbound, and whether they’re woven through tracks like The SRC and Bring Me the Night or sneaking up on you in the title track, rest assured that you’ll be sent back to the good old days with each bang of your head. But that’s not the whole premise of this record; there is still a tiny bit of groove to keep things interesting (most noticeably on The Head and Heart), mixed in there in just the right amounts so your neck doesn’t hurt too badly after listening. In this sense, Ironbound could be considered an “Overkill yearbook” (I couldn’t come up with anything better than that…), with the best of every era present on here. The Goal of Your Soul, for example, is very reminiscent of Bloodletting, In Vain gives more of a Horrorscope vibe, and so on. And yes, there are still your gang shouts and Overkill-ish things like that, for better or worse. I always liked them, but I completely understand if they’re not your cup of tea.

Just as the musical style is a new-yet-old sort of affair, the production has been totally reinvented on Ironbound. For a while, the thick guitar tone was what Overkill went with, but here everything sounds much more modern. The guitars have a sharpness that reduces chugging, and the drums are nice and loud. The best part is, you can still hear D.D. Verni clearly, which must set some sort of record for consecutive thrash releases with audible bass. Anyway, you would probably expect all of this for a Nuclear Blast release, but that sort of thing only seems to come up when an album is a failure (“This album sucks, but I need more reasons to hate it…I KNOW! It sounds too modern!!”), and it doesn’t matter because everything sounds gorgeous.

In keeping with my little shtick of this being a collection of Overkill at their best, I can confidently say that Ironbound has the least filler of any Overkill album in a while. Pretty much every song has something cool to bring to the table: the melodic solo in Endless War, the little breakdown and successful clean vocal experiment in Give A Little, the amazing drumming performance on In Vain…you name your preference, and there will be something here for you. Guaranteed.

Just about the only thing that hasn’t changed is the performance of Blitz on vocals. No, he can’t shriek like he used to, but he once again brings the pissed-off !!!FUCK YOU!!! attitude that makes Overkill so distinguishable, and his raspy vocal style fits the songs perfectly. This man never fails to amaze with his boundless energy behind the microphone, outperforming many thrash metal vocalists twenty years younger than he is (okay, thrash isn’t the most vocal-friendly genre, but you get the point).

What makes Ironbound so good is the combination of variety and quality, with the extra surprise factor added in. I kid you not, it’s like the band just flipped a switch and made an amazing piece of career-spanning metal, just to remind everyone how it’s done. The 80s Overkill run of awesome thrash metal releases will always be tough to beat, but Ironbound holds its own against albums old and new, standing as a testament to resiliency and dedication to the genre. Remarkable!

Stephen "Ironbound" marked Overkill's first album under Nuclear Blast and their fifteenth album to date. This New Jersey thrash outfit was also loyal to their classic mascot, Chaly the skeletal bat, and I dare to claim this album's front cover is their best sleeve ever, surpassed the great image of "Immortalis" and "I Hear Black".

What makes this album shines for me is the consistency of their songwriting which were handled by Blitz and Verni and the tight rhythm section as well as the unaging ruthless voice of Bobby Blitz. Ron Lipnicki, the newest member of the band after joining the camp since "Immortalis", also proved that he's a remarkable wonderboy, blasting an ultra-fast bonebreaker drumming in several of my fave tracks such as "Bring Me The Night", "The Head and Heart", and "Endless War".

Some people stated that this is their greatest offering in the last 10 years while some other grumped that the band has nothing new for the community, but I don't have the capacity to respond to both arguments since I haven't heard any Overkill album since "Horrorscope". But one thing that I'm sure is Overkill made an over-the-top quality thrash, showcased in songs like "In vain" or the title track which driven by a violent riffs and shrilling solos, or "Killing For A Living" and "The SRC" which reminded us of the good old days when thrash reign the world.

"Ironbound" is clearly a winner in its genre and I'm probably one of the few that didn't complain if they put a same pattern with the concept they've written in their heyday because sometimes, experimentation can be a backfiring boomerang where bands like Metallica and Megadeth had done in the 90s but eventually failed. "Ironbound" contained a ferocious and solid headbanging tracks from start to finish that will stand repeat listens and a huge recommendation for fans of classic thrash.