Comments vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth: “‘Head Of A Pin’ took a long time to come together; it is probably the tune that went through the most changes and the last one I finished. Looking back on its development, the time invested was all well worth it. The tonality of the guitar shines on it and the song goes ‘other places,’ traditional with a touch of the down-low-dirty riff, and a sing-along chorus… personally, one of my favorites off ‘The Wings Of War’.”
“The Wings Of War” marks OVERKILL‘s recording debut with drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), who joined the band in 2017.
“The Wings Of War” track listing:
01. Last Man Standing
02. Believe In The Fight
03. Head Of A Pin
04. Bat Shit Crazy
05. Distortion
06. A Mother’s Prayer
07. Welcome To The Garden State
08. Where Few Dare To Walk
09. Out On The Road-Kill
10. Hole In My Soul
Ellsworth said: “It was a blast making ‘The Wings Of War’! It is something old feeling new again, as our chemistry was altered by the addition of Jason Bittner. I was curious from the get-go, how would it pan out? I think what we accomplished here is a new, upgraded OVERKILL that embraced the new chemistry, while taking our roots into the present. The new formula produced not only more raw power, but more places to go with melody, a win, win. The key is being not only interested in the change, but part of it. I’ll tell you what, it’s still fun as hell making OVERKILL records.”
Last year, Ellsworth told Brian Aberback of Patch.com about the musical direction of OVERKILL‘s new material: “What I notice about it is that there are parts of it that delve into really classic heavy metal that are spawned off the riff. There’s kind of a brutal metal riff and then there’s a heavy metal riff. The brutal riff being more in the modern sense of OVERKILL but the classic riff goes back into the feel of ‘Feel The Fire’, ‘Taking Over’, ‘The Years Of Decay’ kind of influence.
“I think what we’re doing is staying with that classic riff but adding the brutality after,” he continued. “So it has the vibe of classic heavy metal with that spawned aggression off of it. Obviously, we’re not going to be progressive or off the tracks with where we’re going. It’s OVERKILL. But the internal end of that is really exciting because we notice every little different nuance in it.”
Asked what Jason has brought to the band, Ellsworth said: “He’s put a lot of work into the album and his excitement has spread to all of us. He’s the first person in this band who’s deeply, technically trained. That’s one of the most exciting things about this project. This guy is pretty close to a virtuoso when hitting the skins.”
OVERKILL is:
Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth – Vocals
D.D. Verni – Bass
Dave Linsk – Lead Guitar
Derek Tailer – Rhythm Guitar
Jason Bittner – Drums