‘Historikill 1995-2007’ – Ranking Overkill’s Albums From Their Forthcoming Retrospective Release

6. Immortalis (2007)

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Immortalis, album number 15(!) is a confusing beast. On one hand, it Thrash’s hard and refuses to acknowledge changes in trends – an admirable trait Overkill have pretty much followed since day one – and takes no prisoners. On the other hand, it is just another Overkill album, hardly indistinguishable from any other mid-period release and consequently lacking in identity.

Strangely, opener “Devils In The Mist” doesn’t hit with the velocity of the usual opening Overkill track and it falls to “What It Takes” and “Skull And Bones” to amp up the atmosphere to Overkill’s usually blistering levels. The latter features Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe dueting with Bobby “Blitz” and while his cameo appears to have divided opinion there’s no doubting Randy’s presence adds ground-shaking gravitas to a Groove-Metal/Thrash Metal knock-out blow of pretty epic proportions!

Concluding with a welcome return to their ‘Overkill’ saga which began way back on their Feel The Fire full-length debut, “Overkill V… The Brand” recalls the relative simplicity of the original (Part 1) by cutting back on the epic nature of Parts 2 & 3 and settling into a mid-paced staccato groove that ups the creepy atmospherics and drives forward with a devilish glee.

Overall, a solid Overkill release, no more no less. Slightly more coherent than ReliXIV, Immortalis can’t be considered top-tier Overkill but it’s not certainly not a time-waster either. 7/10

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