Metal-Rules.com recently spoke with OVERKILL frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, who covered a number of subjects including the Dark Roots Of Earth tour cancellation, the state of thrash and best metal albums released, his personal life, the band line-up and their history. An excerpt is available below:

Metal-Rules.com: You just mentioned package tours, and I was thinking, how do you like doing package tours overall? In fact, it wasn’t long time ago when I interviewed Mille from KRRATOR, and he said that he had kind of mixed feelings about doing package tours. Kreator had just finished a long run of shows with ACCEPT in the States. In a way it was great, because both bands got their new fans from different genres but on the other hand, the ticket sales were not significantly larger. How do you see that thing, the package tour thing?

Bobby: "In my opinion, the package makes the night. You know, let’s talk about numbers. A thousand people, Overkill and Kreator in the US, okay. A thousand people Overkill in the US, a thousand people on the Kreator in the US. I think the thousand that comes to see Overkill / Kreator are left with such an impression. You know, my feeling is that, if you can grab a piece of their heart and take it with you home, that they become part of you and don’t leave you. I think that when you present it as such, you have a better opportunity to do that. We will be touring with Kreator in the States, we are going to… So, if Mille has said that recently. He seems to obviously feel very different about Overkill because we are going to switch headlines through the US."

Metal-Rules.com: I think that works great because you are about the same generation and you’re not so different bands after all?

Bobby: "Yeah. I mean, that’s possibly it. But I think a Kreator / Overkill match is fucking great, because we are different. We are different, I think if they have a more ominous stock of fuel than we have. But they’re fantastic band and they’ve been there from the beginning and they deserve to be on the big four of thrash scene, you know, this titanic big four that’s coming up, I think is fucking great. They deserve that spot. I mean, they have carved a spot up for themselves in musical history. I mean, as we have. I don’t know if it’s the same, we’ve carved a spot up somewhere. But together, I think, you know, to be punch to punch is one punch to be punched once and then punched again… that usually ends the fight (laughs)."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Overkill recently announced a co-headlining tour with their Germany's Kreator. Opening the tour will be California's WARBRINGER.

Ellsworth comments: "Overkill and Kreator is powerhouse combination, a serious one. Two thrash punch. This is what it's all about! Hang on, LET'S DO THIS!"

General tickets go on sale May 14th. Dates will span the US coast to coast with select dates in Canada. The tour will end with two nights at Stage 48 in New York City.

Confirmed dates:

October

30 - Baltimore, MD - Soundstage (Kreator close)
31 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero (Overkill close)

November

1 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium (Overkill close)
2 - Montreal, QC - Club Soda (Kreator close)
3 - Toronto, ON - Opera House (Kreator close)
4 - Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar (Kreator close)
5 - Columbus, OH - Al Rosa Villa (Overkill close)
6 - Joliet, IL - Mojoes (Overkill close)
7 - Lawrence, KS - Granada (Kreator close)
8 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theater (Kreator close)
9 - Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue (Overkill close)
11 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theater (Kreator close)
12 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon (Overkill close)
13 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre (Kreator close)
14 - San Fran, CA - Filmore (Kreator close)
15 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove (Kreator close)
16 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre (Kreator close)
17 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater (Overkill close)
18 - Dallas, TX - Trees (Overkill close)
19 - San Antonio, TX - Backstage Live (Kreator close)
21 - Louisville, KY - Diamond Pub & Billiards (Kreator close)
22 - W. Springfield, VA - Empire (Overkill close)
23 - NYC, NY - Stage 48 (Overkill close)
24 - NYC, NY - Stage 48 (Overkill close)