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Overkill – Belfast Limelight – Saturday 9 April 2016

Simply stated.....they came to SHRED!

Source // Overkill

After only 35 years(!), the finely honed thrash juggernaut that is Overkill finally graced Belfast soil on Saturday 9th April and they were, obviously, well worth the very long wait.

While the Limelight was not sold out (a crime), there was still a great turnout from the Belfast chapter of Overkills ‘Wrecking’ Crew” and their fervour was rewarded ten fold. You know a band are taking no prisoners when they nonchalently drop a handful of classics – in this case, old favourites “Rotten To The Core”, “Hammerhead” and “Hello From The Gutter” – as the opening few songs and it became pretty clear that Overkill were on fire that was only doused by sound issues which plagued Overkill’s set throughout. At times Dave Linsk’s leads were virtually inaudible and for the first part of the set the vocals of Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth were too low in the mix and it was a struggle for them to be heard….although this was eventually corrected.

Regardless, the band stormed on and after about half an hour they left the stage for a brief moment as the welcome intro to “Coma” filled the air. The band then tore into the song itself and followed this up with “Infectious”, “Blood Money” and a barbarous “Nice Day… For A Funeral”. All told the band played eight of the eleven songs found on the classic album Horroscope and finished off their tribute with a scabrous “Thanx For Nothin”. Encoring with a furious rendition of “Elimination” and an extended sing-along of “Fuck You”, proceedings were bought to a nihilistic, yet euphoric, end.

Despite the sound problems, Overkill delivered a water-tight thrash metal masterclass and not once did these thrash legends let these issues affect their performance. Derek Tailer and Dave Lisk are a formidable guitar duo who never get the credit that is tossed willy-nilly to many of their peers and Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth delivered his vocals with a reliable bug eyed intensity that put’s performers half his age to shame. Hopefully it won’t be another thirty five years before Overkill return to Belfast! 10/10

About Gavin O'Connor (161 Articles)
Lifelong Heavy Metal fan. First got into Quo and Leppard, when I was 9 or so I first heard Megadeth and that was me hooked

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