Metal Shock Finland's Chief Editor, Mohsen "Stargazer" Fayazi has recently conducted an interview with Overkill's Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth.  Several excerpts of this interview can be read below:

When asked about how he feels about Overkill being mentioned as the Motörhead of thrash metal, Bobby stated:

“You can just look at the name of the band and say that we were influenced greatly by Motörhead. This was a band that we were actually covering, when Chaly started taking shape for us in the early days.

“So Motörhead has been there for us as an influence or a love from the beginning. And I can probably say to this day that I’m still a Motörheadbanger. It’s what it was all about for us with one of our favourite bands. So I think that the influence is the rock ‘n’ roll influence that Overkill has, I think thrash is heavy metal with energy, but rock ‘n’ roll is not far away from it. I think it’s one of the characteristics that we’ve carried for many years.”

When asked how he feels about Overkill not being classed as part of the 'Big Four', Bobby answered:

“Who? (laughs) I’m sorry I just like doing that. That’s my answer! First and foremost I think it’s necessary to be concerned with your own house as opposed to what other people do. I think for sure they’re a great complement to the metal community and it shows the power of being able to play the size of venues that they do. They reinvented music on a heavy level by showing that a band out of San Francisco could make this happen at this large scale.

“When you talk numbers, numbers make the world go around, numbers put food on your table and numbers put the Big 4 in arenas. For me, it’s not a concern. To even be asked the question from you is quite a compliment, but this is quite simply an accounting issue. He who sells the most gets to be in the Big 4.”

Bobby also spoke about his favorite singers, including Freddie Mercury and Rob Halford, also about working with Andy Sneap. Read or listen to the whole chat on Metal Shock Finland.

Overkill will release their eighteenth album, The Grinding Wheel, on February 10th via Nuclear Blast. The band have released the second official track-by-track video for the new album. Watch both track-by-track videos below.

The Grinding Wheel can be ordered in the following formats:

- CD Digipak
- Green Cassette
- Orange Vinyl
- Swamp Green with Black Splatter Vinyl

Order your copy of the new album digitally on either iTunes or Amazon (widget below) and receive the tracks “Mean, Green, Killing Machine” and "Our Finest Hour" instantly.

The Grinding Wheel was produced by the band and mixed by Andy Sneap (Testament, Exodus). The artwork was created again by Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth, etc.).

The Grinding Wheel tracklisting:

“Mean Green Killing Machine”
“Goddamn Trouble”
“Our Finest Hour”
“Shine On”
“The Long Road”
“Let's All Go To Hades”
“Come Heavy”
“Red White And Blue”
“The Wheel”
“The Grinding Wheel”

“Mean, Green, Killing Machine" lyric video:

“Our Finest Hour” lyric video:

Track-by-track #1:

Track-by-track #2:

Trailers:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

 

In a new video interview, Overkill frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth answers the question, “When will you be touring the UK next and what are your memories of previous visits there?” Find out below:  

Overkill’s 2017 North American trek with Egyptian themed technical death metal champions and labelmates, Nile (pictured below) will kick-off on February 14th at The Trocadero in Philadelphia, make stops in Chicago, Anaheim, and Washington, DC before ending at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ.

Bobby "Blitz Ellsworth comments, "Can't wait to roll 'the wheel' down the road. This February & March, USA, coming to a stage near you! Let's make it another one to remember!  Onward! Upward!"

“All of us in Nile are really looking forward to the upcoming USA Tour with Overkill. This Tour is going to be Metal as Fuck,” comments Nile mastermind Karl Sanders.

Joining Overkill and Nile for select shows are melancholic progressive metallers Amorphils and melodic doom/death merchants Swallow The Sun.

Tour dates:

February
14 - Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
15 - Agora Ballroom (with Lordi) - Cleveland, OH
16 - Park Street Saloon - Columbus, OH
17 - Concord Music Hall - Chicago, IL
18 - The Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
19 - Granada Theater - Lawrence, KS
20 - Gothic Theatre - Englewood, CO
22 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
23 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
24 - Slim's - San Francisco, CA
25 - City National Grove - Anaheim, CA
26 - Club Red - Tempe, AZ
27 - Sunshine Theater - Albuquerque, NM
28 - Trees - Dallas, TX

March
1 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
2 - Alamo City Music Hall - San Antonio, TX
3 - Southport Music Hall - New Orleans, LA
4 - The Ritz Ybor - Ybor City, FL
5 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
6 - The Fillmore - Charlotte, NC  **
7 - The NorVa - Norfolk, VA **
8 - Howard Theatre - Washington, DC **
9 - Upstate Concert Hall - Clifton Park, NY **
10 - Palladium - Worcester, MA
11 - Starland Ballroom - Sayerville, NJ **

** with Amorphis, Swallow The Sun