Source: Album Artwork
When you’ve been in thrash metal for as long as Overkill have, you get to know what works, and what fans want to hear; and their 18th album The Grinding Wheel proves it.
Despite releasing their first album in 1985, the legendary thrash metal outfit sound as fresh, fast and brutal as they always have. If you love old-school guitar riffs, double-kick drums and powerful vocals and if you’ve got an hour to spare (the 10-track album lasts for over 60 minutes) then this is the album for you.
This album is most definitely a marathon and not a sprint. The build-up in title track ‘The Grinding Wheel’, which is the albums longest track at over eight minutes long, will delight some fans, and probably perplex a few others. It does seem a bit excessive if you think of it as being a song that lasts for almost 10 minutes; but when you listen to it, it doesn’t feel that long at all. This is a feature throughout the album, and indeed throughout a lot of thrash metal, but it does get a bit tiresome in the latter part of The Grinding Wheel.
Having said that, there are some interesting elements to this album. The mix of punk, thrash, power rock and a little bit of prog rock makes gives The Grinding Wheel a very solid foundation. The influences of Overkill pretty obvious throughout this album, and it is bursting at the seams with classic metal references. ‘The Long Road’ is so Iron Maiden, it could almost be Iron Maiden, but Overkill do add a bit of a unique twist to the classic style with precise yet frantic music accompanied by some brutal vocals and fairly thought-provoking lyrics. Some of the more anthemic, guaranteed mosh-pit favourites such as ‘Let’s All Go To Hades’ are heavy as Hell, but also have a fun, vibrant feel to them.
Maybe it’s the fact that Overkill have had the same line-up for over a decade, or maybe it’s because they are veterans of the genre and comfortable to be doing what they have always done, but there isn’t anything revolutionary in The Grinding Wheel. However, It doesn’t seem likely that fans are going to be overly upset with this album; it’s not new, or revolutionary, or different, but it is a textbook example of a thrash metal album.
Music anywhere in the rock genre is prone to being judged by the level of experimentation; but The Grinding Wheel is proof that this shouldn’t be the case. There’s nothing new here; arguably, there’s nothing they haven’t done a million times on every one of their 17 preceding albums. But the chemistry of the band is evident, and the talent shown by each of the five members is exhibited on this album. It is what fans want to hear, so why deny them of that?
