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Trick? Or treat? With King Diamond taking a night off, to rest his voice, and Night Demon playing in Brooklyn (alongside Cirith Ungol), Overkill booked a one-off, headlining show at the Theater Of The Living Arts (TLA) on South Street, the old (but now waning) entertainment area of the city. Great mix of older tunes, amongst the requisite staples, plus a pair from the latest Scorched CD (opening with the title track, and "The Surgeon"). 

"Rotten To The Core" sees Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, right foot up on wedge monitor, bark out the titular phrase (plus the occasional cackle), as leather vested bassist DD Verni, freshly back in the fold, after shoulder surgery (former Megadeth thumper Dave "Junior" Ellefson filled in on the European leg), adds his voice to the chorus. Signature Overkill green colored lights pulsate overhead, as the crowd sings along. There are four stacks of amps, either side of the centrally located drum riser.

An aggressive "Bring Me The Night" follows. Periodically, Blitz walks offstage, to Derek "The Skull" Tailer's side (stage right). Once upon a time, he'd be sucking on oxygen (out of view from the crowd), but since giving up the smokeless E-cigarette/nicotine, the singer says he's breathing better and his voice has never sounded better. Between songs, when the stage goes black, there's the three-syllable chant, "O-ver-kill". When he talks, Blitz (who lives in North Jersey, closer to NYC) stokes the flames of local sports rivalries, claiming the crowd is made up of angry Flyers and Eagles fans. Yellow and green flashing lights greet "Hello From The Gutter", where Verni (athletic tape visible on his right shoulder) and Tailer take center stage.

Been a while since "Deny The Cross" was in the set, but it meets receptive ears, all around. "Electric Rattlesnake" is illuminated in more yellows and copper, as the hunched bass player aggressively stalks the stage (He's not played golf, his non-musical passion, since the injury) and kicks the song into its temporarily slowed-down, doomy groove, before it ends, much as it began, in a full on sprint. Dave Linsk is an underrated guitar talent. Man, can that guy burn, up and down the frets. Half a dozen white headlights flash atop each bank of amps, alternating with yellow pulsations. Aptly colored "Mean Green Killing Machine" features a high pitched rooster call from Blitz.

The stage goes black, broken by the chugging riffs of "Necroshine". There's a dense fog shrouding the performers, pierced by plenty of strobes as the laidback heaviness is built around Verni's thundering bass. It segues into more mid-tempo sludge, aka "Horrorscope", as Blitz vacates the stage and lets the musicians play. After the aforementioned newbie ("Surgeon"), there's blue and white lights for quick hitting "Ironbound", along with strobes from above. 

The proper set ends with "Elimination", Tailer with his back to the crowd as Bobby stands poised, both hands overhead, throwing the "horns." A full bank of lights (seemingly every channel on the LD's board) goes into action. DD gets the crowd involved, punching the air (those that aren't partaking in the nearly constantly churning mosh pit), as Linsk shreds. When finished, they say "Good night" and leave.

Warm up those singing voices, because "In Union We Stand" welcomes the boys back onto the stage. Might be nearing the end of the night, but no let-up, as they dust off and unleash "E.vil N.ever D.ies", with Linsk tapping away, like a madman. At one point, it nearly grinds to a halt, only to storm back to life. Typically an East Coast greeting, amongst close friends, Overkill depart with "Fuck You", a loving, one finger salute (albeit acceptable on both hands!) from band to fans (and vice versa), accompanied by repeated shouts of the titular phrase. There's always a certain joyful tone in Blitz' voice, for this one. Nice to see you too. Don't ever change guys! 

Opening the show was Philly's own Traitor, dishing out like-minded thrash, featuring a heavy dose of their Last Hope For The Wretched album (work continues on the follow-up, guitarist Brian Mikus claiming eight tracks are ready to record). Nice to finally see them on a big stage, not crammed in the corner of some postage stamp size club. 

Kicking off, as usual with blistering "Take Control", it was then on to the old school (meaning: off the initial eponymous Ep), "Blackened Kings". More frenzied action, courtesy of "Under Attack", followed by a purple lit "Baptized In Fire". After "Zed", it was the relatively new "Plight Of Duality" (ie, it's yet to be recorded, but has been in the live set for over a year now).Their night concluded with "Luxury", which is also positioned last, on their full-length. 

Now let's get the new material into the hands of waiting fans, like me!