UMUR
"White Devil Armory" is the 18th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Overkill. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and eOne Music in the USA in July 2014. While Overkill have always maintained a decent level of popularity even in the thrash unfriendly environment of the 90s, they seem to be on the roll in recent years, having released some of their strongest material in years in "Ironbound (2010)" and "The Electric Age (2012)", and in the process also received quite a bit of praise from fans and critics alike.
With "White Devil Armory" Overkill prove to be as reliable as ever. Attitude filled thrash metal with heavy metal elements delivered with fierce conviction and great passion. The album opens with a short intro but when "Armorist" kicks in with an energy level of an angry rhino, you know you´re gonna get what you payed for. "White Devil Armory" is relatively varied in the songwriting department, but the difference isn´t huge from the two predecessors. As always Overkill have just tweaked their core sound enough to not repeat themselves too much. The focus is still on catchy aggressive grooves. You can name any track on the album and they are pretty strong, but some of the standout tracks to me are the above mentioned "Armorist", "Bitter Pill", "Where There's Smoke...", and "Freedom Rings".
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as always lead the show with his raw "I have just eaten a handful of rusty nails" voice, D.D. Verni´s bass is powerful, rumbling, and audible in the mix with it´s metallic tone, Ron Lipnicki is a skilled drummer delivering powerful beats, and guitarists Dave Linsk and Derek "The Skull" Tailer deliver raw and edgey thrashy riffing throughout the album. The former also plays some very well sounding solos. While it probably isn´t necessary to mention it anymore, I still think it deserves a mention that Overkill are as tight playing a unit as they come.
"White Devil Armory" is packed in a powerful, clear, and raw sound production which suits the music well. So there´s little to complain about here and overall "White Devil Armory" is yet another quality release by Overkill. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.