Metal After Midnight: Overkill “Hello From The Gutter”

Overkill are one of Thrash Metal's Pioneers as well as one of the genre's biggest names to come out of the East Coast.  It's hard to believe they came from the New Jersey, the same state as Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.They were formed in the very late 70's from the remnants of a Punk band when D.D. Verni hooked up with Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth.  Both are still in the band and the only original members.

Thrash Metal is really a combination of Heavy Metal and Punk.  It's more refined  than punk but it still maintains the speed and reckless abandon.  Overkill had influences all over the map from the Ramones to Judas Priest, they had some melody at times, but their attitude was more on the Punk side.

Overkill was (and still is) all about aggression and real life struggles.  They never achieved mainstream success and had to work for everything they got.  Their blue collar approach has kept their fan base very loyal over the years and they have one of the biggest libraries  of any active band with over 15 studio releases alone.

From 1988 and the peak of their success here's "Hello From The Gutter".