Killbox 13

Whereas “Bloodletting” was the reintegrating of their thrash elements as part of the main driving force of their sound, Overkill’s “Killbox 13” lessened that to an extent and delivers what I think is their most refined and perfected version of their brand of groove metal that they had been experimenting with for the past decade. “Killbox 13” has gotten a lot of love since its release, and rightfully so. It is absolutely a great record, filled with the bands best groove oriented riffs, chalk full of different riffs packed into each song and technical flourishes, one Blitz’s best vocal offerings, fairly some of their most engaging and interesting musicianship in a long time, and it’s catchy as fuck. Overkill does a lot more right here than they do wrong.

For the most part, a mid-tempo groove is what you're going to be led by throughout “Killbox 13” except some songs utilize that thrash spirit in sections, such as the middle end of the head banging romp “Devil By The Tail” and the sluggish “Crystal Clear”, and in the middle section of “Until I Die”. But really this album works off the framework of the previous record with the 3 different types of songs, songs that were thrash focused, songs that were groove metal focused, and those half thrash / groove metal numbers. The main thing that separates this album from “Bloodletting” is the stronger writing choices, stronger performances, and more adherence to their groove metal side. There are some elements that weren’t necessarily present on the previous record though with the more rock vibed “The One” and the already mentioned “Crystal Clear” with its foot strongly placed into sludge metal county. But songs like “Devil By The Tail”, “Damned”, “The Sound Of Dying”, and “Until I Die” are much more of that thrash and groove mixture while your groovy based tunes is “No Lights'', “The One”, and “Crystal Clear''. Speaking of “Until I Die”, that song utilizes a little more of that doom metal trait that Overkill does well with mostly a groove metal base with some elements of thrash in the already mentioned middle section. There just seems to be a little more interesting ideas placed in these songs compared to the handful of records behind it. But really, the best songs on this album are the thrash oriented songs which happen to be the last 3 tracks, “Struck Down”, “Unholy”, and “I Rise”. God damn do those tracks rage.

Honestly those 3 songs, up until this point, are probably the best thrash songs Overkill has recorded since “W.F.O.”, even rivaling some of the songs on that record. They don’t hit the highs the classic era had but they’re pretty damn close with their frantic and quite frankly more technical musical compositions going on about. Even the solos have been the strongest since “W.F.O.” with “Struck Down” offering one of my favorite solo sections out of the band's works as it basically starts with D.D. performing a nice groovy melody as the rhythm guitars follow in bursts along with the drums only to kick into a well rhythmic solo that turns back into that section that utilized the bass except this time the guitar solo takes the basses place and continues on with a heavily melodic section. All the other solos on this album work really well but this one gets my Jimmies rustled. This here really shows how much Dave Linsk shines in the band, and only gets better down the line. Dave can play plenty of great leads and solos and he does have a knack on the general feeling a solo should have. I would talk more in depth about the new rhythm guitarist, Derek “The Skull” Tailer, but he doesn’t play on here, matter of fact he doesn’t play on an album until “The Wings Of War” which I find entirely strange. So I will say, Derek is a formable rhythmic guitarist playing live and once I get to “The Wings Of War”, I’ll bring him up again. But so yeah, Dave handles both rhythm and lead guitar and does a great job at it.

Both D.D. And Tim provides great performances on the bass and drums, with D.D. shining much more distinctly in these songs compared to the last few records and Tim providing probably the best performance I think during his time with the band. Blitz rectifies the problems he has had on the last few Kill albums and comes off 10 times stronger. He’s still able to get downright piss and vinegar on songs like “Damned” or “Unholy” while still incorporating his softer vocals on “Until I Die”. I really love that Blitz always tries to fit his vocals into the song to embody either the tempo or the vibe of the song compared to most thrash metal singers, such as getting more slurry and sluggish in the slower moments of “Until I Die” or “Crystal Clear”. Blitz still can keep the pace, even to this day he can, and it’s hard to think of any other thrash singer that can match him in terms of style and skill. But what really helps complement Blitz’s vocals is the production. Forgot to mention in the “Bloodletting” review that Colin Richardson came back and did the mixing for both that record and “Killbox 13” and it makes sense why these two records sound great and heavy. One of the things I really like about “From The Underground And Below” was the sound of that record and Colin brings his A game once more. While “Bloodletting” feels more raw, this one feels a little more polished and the instrumental levels are mixed in equally. Also think the guitars are set in standard toning here as well. Overall, one the best sounding records the band has put out.

“Killbox 13” holds a special place in my heart, let alone I think it is a fairly special record on its own. At the time, when I already had all of Overkill's records, “Killbox 13” was fairly high in my rankings but it was at a time where “Ironbound” was the only album out in Overkill's new era. No “ The Electric Age” or “White Devil Army”, “Killbox 13” was nicely settled in the top 10 ranking at that time, only to drop further and further down as Overkill released more and more. But that doesn’t change how great of a record “Killbox 13” is. It embodies the best and most refined aspect of their groove metal era while still keeping in a healthy dose of their signature thrash metal sound. Full of infectious grooves, start and stop riffs, melodic highs and lows, and then kicking into a thrash filled overdrive towards the end, “Killbox 13” is a worthy edition in Overkill's discography. I don’t see how any of the detractors can say this is exactly like the previous record nor it being a bore and forgettable. Everything about this album is an improvement and if say the band wanted to include one of these songs on their future setlists, I’d remain a happy camper. It doesn’t break conventions or break the mold and do something no else has done, but 99% of the albums out there don’t do that and most dumbasses can’t keep their biases and standards in check and would rather come across hypocritical trying rationalize somehow this is a bad record. “Killbox 13” just kicks ass, simple as that.

Interestingly, me talking bad about Killbox 13 has always been met with a few raised eyebrows. I don’t really understand why, because I find it to be just about as boring as its predecessor, except not painfully drenched in horrid production and even worse songwriting. Overkill had hit their true dip with this release, but I think the wear and tear of these groove-isms showed pretty heavily earlier than this. It’s just where the saturation hit its peak and it took a few albums to recover.

No sir, I think the reason why some people sympathise here is because it wasn’t just a figurative pile of shit, and every album sounded solid enough to long-time fans for that reason alone. I don’t see how, though. Blitz’s unflattering vocal patterns definitely peaked their ugly head here, the riffing progressions by now were done-to-death, and the only thing to save it was a decent backing from some of the basslines. “Damned” feels a bit promising at first because of its aggressive riff intro covered in that hard bass cladding, but it doesn’t maintain. And really, that’s the case for a lot of this album.

And look, I’m not saying Killbox 13 is painfully bad, either. It’s around the same level as Immortalis but with less to talk about. There are very clear attempts. Check the serious doom vibes on "Until I Die" and “Crystal Clear,” but try to ignore the fact that they nailed this style down prior in a much better fashion. And like the rest of the record, it goes on far longer than it has any business going.

So yeah, fifty minutes of this is gonna be another no for me, dawg. I guess when you drop albums at the rate they have been their entire career, there are gonna be these inevitable plateaus. I feel like we’re somewhat hitting another one now, but not quite as bad. Also, what the hell were they thinking with these awful fucking album names (and covers) in the mid-2000s?

Even if it’s not totally a modern thrash metal masterpiece, Killbox 13 represents the coronation of Overkill’s groove/thrash formula. Finally, they release a solid album that is not pure speed metal. They took the rawness from the old days and the analog tubes and combined it with the enhanced low end and digital era resolution. The guitar playing style is fresh and creative, Dave Linsk is an excellent guitarist and his technique somehow combines the old school guitar hero soloing and the traditional heavy metal riffing with a hard-rock driven modern sound; exactly what they were looking for at the time of writing and recording the last couple of albums previous to this one. The riffing is very groovy and bassy if you want, similar to Bloodletting but on this record they built the songs around a spicier mid-tempo drum beat.

Rhythmically there are a lot more textures than on Necroshine for example, and the riffs themselves, while they aren’t completely innovative or revolutionary are more ingenious and unconventional. Take for example the third track “No Lights”, starts out slowly and gloomy and then speeds up, combining the darkness from old Bobby Gustafson-era tracks like “The Answer” with the street-like atmosphere they prefered to evoke after this departure. The fifth track “Crystal Clear” plays with slower tempos, resembling “Playing with Spiders / Skullkrusher” or “Who Tends the Fire”, creepy and doom influenced, one of the highlights of the album definitely. The last 3 tracks are kind of like an encore. As in any legendary band with a lengthy career, the studio album format is similar to a live set, so “Struck Down” is a tribute to the speed metal days of the band and sounds like it was taken directly from the “Taking Over” sessions, amazing track too, fast tremolo parts and crazy leads. The bass guitar also draws a bluesy riff on that one, that melts perfectly with the punky attitude of Overkill’s thrash metal brand.

The last couple of songs follow the same formula and are the fastest tracks on the album. Amazing finish. The success of this songwriting formula goes through the capacity of combining the old and the new, it doesn’t really invented anything. The production quality is top notch too, in 2003 sound engineers had already mastered the digital recording technologies and... well it shows, they probably used analog preamps on the strings so they sound fucking huge, with delicious distortions and the brilliant trebly bass tone from DD. Verni cuts through the mix smoothly. To terminate my review I would simply add that this is the best record they released since Won’t Fucking Obey and to me it represents Overkill’s real comeback as a contender for the thrash metal throne.

(Full disclosure: We here at metal-archives recently lost a beloved mod by the handle of Diahmea. Nine times out of ten he was the one approving my reviews. I imagine I was one of the lower tier people he had to deal with. He loved Overkill. I also love Overkill, but the inspiration to write a review never really struck when he was still with us. The only thing I really had was the first paragraph of this review, which I got started when I was high and having just listened to the album in its entirety for a 15th anniversary. Hopefully I can make it better.)

Before Ironbound, Killbox 13 was the perceived comeback from Blitz & pals. Whereas most other acts seemed to fall into either the trap of ridiculous Gothenberg worship or Pantera worship, Killbox 13 manages to deftly sidestep both and deliver some honest to goodness thrash! Ok, maybe there's a twinge of Pantera residue from the previous decade, but I suppose it could have been much worse.

What makes the album work are the elements from the past couple of albums that aren't here. Namely, things like Blitz's bizarrely nasal vocal tone and performance on Bloodletting that ruined potential staples like Death Comes Out To Play and Bleed Me; the dumb chugging groove oriented songs have been thinned out considerably (pretty much just Crystal Clear and Until I Die). If thrash means hyper-speed to you, you may be left cold with Killbox 13, as most of this is a mid-tempo to brisk-tempo affair. Still, I reckon you'll get a decent non-chiropractor approved workout from the final two tracks, Unholy and I Rise. The latter gives us a sneak peak at the type of raging material Overkill would fill to the brim with on their recent run of speed thrash albums. The former is a slower but more chaotic attack, seeming like it's about to lose control and veer into Mudvayne territory at any second, but these seasoned veterans have the good taste and sense to steer that plane properly. Angel of Death was never classic Overkill's modus operandi anyway. Sure there were moments like Blood & Iron and Electro-Violence, but those seemed to be more deep cuts to the fans rather than New Jersey committee approved classics like Coma and Elimination.

The more typical paced songs of the album are things like Struck Down and Devil By The Tail. Struck Down is built from a thrash shuffle (think Victim of Fate) and features the finest solo of Dave Linsk's career. It's a smidge masturbatory, but considering this was 2003, when even fucking Alex Lifeson was scare to lay down solos on Rush's comeback album, I'll welcome it with open arms as a balancing of all things. Devil features a sailing groove accented by spike through the neck percussive attacks in the pre-chorus, with a proper New York thrash break rearing it's bad side of Jersey head around 2:43. This was likely the moment that let the thrash faithful know that in this seemingly hopeless decade of the 00's, Anthrax and Metallica might be failing miserably, but these old warhorses haven't drowned yet.

The success of Ironbound and The Electric Age relegate this album in quality and relevance to middle tier on the Overkill best-to-worst album ranking list. If you have most of the Kill classics but are still hankering for more, Killbox 13 is one of your better options. Don't go blowing rare live bootleg [blood] money on it now.

(RIP Diamhea, I'm glad I was able to make you legitimately laugh at least one of my jokes.)

Some bands have names that instantly suit them, others take time to grow into them. Overkill are an odd anomaly in one sense, since their name didn’t suit them at first, became more fitting during the late ’90s and early ‘00s, then they gradually grew out of it in the resurrection that Ironbound brought about late in the decade. When I say that Overkill is a fitting name for the thrashers on this album, that’s a bad thing because over kill means overdoing something or using far more force than is really needed. Think about using dynamite to get rid of a wobbly tooth. That’s not to accuse Killbox 13 of straight-up sucking, though this is one of the few Overkill albums of the period that makes a stab at decency: unlike Necroshine, which could be critiqued by throwing everything at the compositions, it’s more the fact that the repetition is overdone and the band overestimated the power needed to make a competent album in the style for which they were aiming.

Always interesting, too, are albums that start off with some of the weakest tracks and slowly get into their groove - an important factor here, since Overkill are playing with groove more than ever before. Though technically thrash metallers of the first degree, the band’s sound entered more general heavy metal waters after I Hear Black, where comparisons to Pantera or Machine Head could be made in justice, even if Testament and Exodus remained neighbours on the other side. Killbox 13 focuses more energy on the concrete guitars and steel-edged rhythms than ever before, playing out in fairly typical early Machine Head style on a song like ‘Until I Die’, which even incorporates some clinical nu metal riffing around the chassis of creepy ballad, guitar feedback, and distorted soloing. While it’s true that the drumming has slightly more embellishment, the bass is a more forthright, punky presence, and the vocals are a more dynamic shriek rather than rough bark, the album as a whole is little more than a late imitation of the groove style so prevalent in the late ‘90s.

What gives this some credit at least is that it can lay claim to being a good groove metal album, beset by few of the problems that the time period threw up for other, musically redundant, bands. Firstly, Overkill did not rely only on groove to craft the songs, ensuring that there were riffs that would be recognizable from their past pursuits, occasionally opting for speed over catchy hooks or rhythmic patterns, while adding plenty of heaviness to the percussion in order to propel the whole thing forwards at something other than a Neanderthal lumber. The way that the guitarists change styles between pure Pantera copyists at the start of ‘Struck Down’ into a foot race with Anthrax and then blaze through a couple of solos is evidence that the generic nature of much of the music doesn’t preclude it from being exciting and frequently surprising. The vocals would be a distinctive factor on most Overkill records but, although Blitz does more than Phil Anselmo ever could back in the day, the lyrics are rather flat and the performance merely adequate in that department.

It’s also good to know that Overkill were capable of writing some intelligent songs at this point in their career. ‘I Rise’ is a smashing way to conclude an album in more ways than one, its breakneck ending giving a final shot of adrenaline that ‘The One’ and ‘The Sound of Dying’ had already built up. It is perhaps ‘The One’ that proves the overall highlight with its frequent soloing and crushing atmospheric power chord verses, though the chunky chorus riff proves that simplicity can be a winner in some cases. ‘Crystal Clear’ is a peculiar surprise, successfully taking on the deep nu metal grooves that ‘80 Cycles’ attempted to less effect on Necroshine, though it contains an example of one of the flaws in a mostly decent effort. The issue is with the repetitive nature of the song and the restriction of each piece to mostly two or three ideas dragged out to a length of five minutes, which is the average for Killbox 13, meaning that those surprises are really delightful but all too sparse and with less impact than the basic elements of the songs that rarely change. ‘Crystal Clear’ also exhibits a feature that makes ‘Devil by the Tail’ an awkward opener, which is the extreme crunch of the drums as rhythmic pulverization becomes the method to assure the listener of the song’s heaviness, rather than the searing riffs and momentum that come towards the end of that opening shot.

These difficulties make Killbox 13 an album that does not entice regular listens or concentrated listening, though the simplicity and mostly effective ideas make it a fun experience when one does take it for a spin. The riffs are entertaining and the solos are moderate, while any momentum that the band generate is gratefully received, though the more staccato parts don’t satisfy me nearly so much and, after two or three listens, may induce headaches. I suppose that I would recommend this slightly higher than most other groove metal albums I own (except a few of Machine Head’s that had greater ambition), though it still isn’t awesome in its own right.

While the lion's share of Overkill's post-1991 and pre-2010 material tends to get a fair amount of criticism, their 13th studio offering (counting the late 90s compilation of influential cover songs "Coverkill") is largely greeted with an almost universal respect, though not heaped with the same level of praise as "Ironbound". For a regular trustee of all things that kill in excess, this is a bit perplexing at first given that this isn't too different from the millennial studio resurgence in "Bloodletting", as well as much of the band's more polished mid-90s material, but from a general perspective it does make a level of sense. "Killbox 13" is a bit more of a thrill-ride in several respects compared to much of the material after "Horrorscope", largely due to a slightly more concentrated dose of aggression and a tighter arrangement, but probably most of all because of a continual consistency of sound that while not quite the flashy thrashing mayhem of "Ironbound", points to an eventual return to that sound.

One of the first signs of a truly powerful thrash assault is to start, as the devil often does, by putting your best foot forward. Indeed, Overkill literally does take the "Devil By The Tail" with a driving, pummeling groove that reminds a bit of the early 90s work of a few Bay Area holdouts, complete with the only really prominent bass intro to be heard out of D.D. Verni on this particular album (in contrast to the Cliff Burton inspired extravaganza that was "The Killing Kind"). It functions primarily based on a unified and simplistic arrangement, rolling out a veritable red carpet for Blitz Ellsworth to excite the masses with his sleazy snarl, which comes with a bit more potency than normal. Nipping on this demolition disaster of a song are 2 more in "Damned" and "The One" that follow after the same formula, throwing out a basic riff set that's simple enough for Dimebag, but with a bit more life to them and a vocalist dynamic enough to keep things interesting.

Nevertheless, while this album makes an impressive showing of mid-tempo thrashing that is definitely a welcome shift compared to the somewhat experimental elements that came along for the ride on "From The Underground And Below" and "Necroshine", there is the occasional variation into semi-balladry here and there, though it is definitely far more limited in scope. "No Lights" starts off in sort of a melodic anthem character, reminding a bit of the intro of Metallica's "Struggle Within", but takes a bit longer before it really gets going. "Crystal Clear" takes a near full head on dive into Pantera territory after the "The Great Southern Trendkill" with a rock based riff set that suddenly finds itself in frenetic speed metal territory; a bit jarring, but not an all out disappointment. That's pretty much the low points of this otherwise solid venture, just a handful of remnants of the still looming spirit of 90s groove, but stripped of most of its weakest parts.

There is definitely something to be said regarding how this album stands in comparison to Overkill's widely heralded classic albums, but it's pretty hard to argue with the consistent ownage of speeders like "Unholy" and "I Rise", each one never quite escaping the slower trudging feel of the 90s completely, but definitely pointing towards the all-out mastery that came to fruition about 7 years later on "Ironbound". The addition of Derek "The Skull" Tailer definitely frees up the veteran lead efforts of Dave Linsk on here, though it doesn't quite get to the level of fret board shredding insanity that Gustafson first brought to the table with a vengeance on "The Years Of Decay". It's tough to go wrong with Overkill, and "Killbox 13" proves that even when their albums take a measured approach, the body count is still quite high.

Time for my own revisionism. During my earlier review of ReliXIV I stated that I found Killbox 13 overrated and inferior to it's direct successor. After suffering through Bloodletting recently, I concluded that The Wrecking Crew's thirteenth opus ain't so bad after all, at least in light of what came directly before it.

I suppose my biggest gripe here runs parallel with one of the bones I picked with Bloodletting: There are virtually no songs here that stand out over the rest. The acquisition of Derek Tailer results in no discernible variation in the riff department. Dave Linsk appears to be more restrained here than he was on his debut with the group as well; very little overt thrashing going on here, although there appears to be a stronger traditional metal influence surging through many of the tracks. The entire album appears to be mired in mid-paced land, which only yields marginal favors for the band sonically. Colin Richardson's production job here has always rubbed me the wrong way. It sounds too overproduced for an Overkill record, the guitars are too cleaned-up and the percussion too clicky. Verni is shockingly absent in the mix as well, making me almost wish for a return to the W.F.O. days.

Blitz still carries the day in a respectable manner; definitely a huge improvement over Bloodletting, which suffered from dull lyrics and a horrendous vocal tone. I prefer his approach on albums like this and Necroshine, with a darker inflection interspersed with shrieking highs. On later albums he would tinker with this approach in ways that I wasn't so much a fan of; so this may be Ellsworth's best output post-2000 in my opinion. Blitz has hinted at a concept of sorts that revolves around the abstraction of the Seven Deadly Sins, but after countless sessions of analyzing the lyrics in detail, I have to admit that I don't really see it.

Opener "Devil By The Tail" gets things off to a solid start, but I find myself drawn more to "Crystal Clear" with its punishing mid-paced approach. It's like "New Machine" all over again, but with more style. "The Sound of Dying" ends up being the best cut on Killbox 13 due to magnificent lyrical patterns and a face-melting riff set. Unfortunately, the lack of variation in the tempo department results in many tracks, such as "Unholy", "Damned", and "I Rise", appearing almost shockingly interchangeable; it's almost as if the same song is making multiple appearances. There are some more eclectic moments, like the classic-sounding opening of "No Lights". While lack of variation could have become a problem, Ellsworth's manic shrieking manages to salvage the potency of the material when the proceedings start to shift toward Bloodletting territory.

Despite Verni's lack of impact, the rhythm section is bolstered by one of Tim Mallare's better outings. He still can't touch Sid or Rat, but he at least makes a case for himself here. Overall, Killbox 13 remains one of the band's better post-millennial efforts. Not without its faults, but a nice slab of groovy thrash nonetheless.

With its intense Slayer-ific breakdown, and the eerie chorus vocals that reprise the opening guitar melody, "Devil by the Tail" was probably the best album opener Overkill had unleashed in several years, and made me instantly excited that the band had reached deep into themselves to produce a proper knuckle sandwich worthy of the brand. There was still a hint or two of the bland riffing that plagued Necroshine, and the band was largely committed to creating similar, simplistic structures rather than finally evolving beyond the threshold they built in the later 80s, but a lot of the riffs on this seem to come together, and ultimately there are about a half-dozen songs on this thing that are comparably fun to much of the band's much lauded material of recent years.

Tracks like "Damned" or "The One" might seem to hinge on mere reconfigurations of riffs the band had written earlier for weaker records, but they possess excellent build-ups and payout choruses that stick with you at least for a few months. I don't like the backing vocals in the latter, granted, they're pretty phoned in and might have been better mixed to provide added power, but Blitz carries the day with relative ease despite the almost pedestrian mentality behind a lot of the mid-paced thrash riffing. "The Sound of Dying" has a great momentum to it, the sporadic and stringy leads, and "Struck Down" has some nice descending lines in the bass and guitar while building a speed/thrash gait not unlike "What I'm Missing", one of the standouts from the prior album. "Unholy" is another muscular piece which wouldn't have seemed out of place on a record like Taking Over, while "No Lights" and "Crystal Clear" make great use of more sluggish ball fisted pacing, the latter having some great vocals where Bobby almost seems to channel Ronny James Dio.

This was Derek 'The Skull' Tailer's studio debut in the band, returning them to the 5-man configuration they had briefly dropped off, but while he and Linsk manage to carve out a nice double slice of sirloin, I would not put it far past its predecessor. I don't know if it was a conscious decision, but the bass here, apart from being audible, doesn't exactly stand out next to the rhythm guitars, and Verni's lines feel as distinct as they had been in 88-89 or even some of their less appealing groove metal infusions. Once more, you get the few traces of 90s Overkill, but to be honest I think you could probably erase the band's career from 1991-2000 and just tack this on after The Years of Decay for a perfectly fluid continuity. Not the greatest of the band's albums, but this was more enjoyable to me than Bloodletting and the music far outshines the bland cover and title. I realize Ironbound is considered this group's return to the thrashing fore, partly due to a whole new generational audience exploring the thrash revival, but Killbox 13 was functional enough to earn that honor.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This album has been heralded by many as a return to form for the thrash metal gods Overkill, In my opinion, This isn't a fulltime comeback but rather a pretty decent album for that decade. Overkill's best album since "Horroscope" is probably "Immortalis" released in 2007.

While there are still elements of classic overkill to be found here, New elements have been injected to the album, Blitz still continues with his Dave Mustaine-esque 'talking', He totally abandoned his 'singing' tendencies by the turn of the 90's. He doesn't hit the ranges he used to with his voice anymore. Sometimes, His voice tends to sound inhuman and unusual. There is a lot of processing to be found here in the guitarwork department, The vocals feels overproduced and sometimes. The song-wrIting is mediocre, It seems as if the crew half-hearted their way around writing lyrics for the song, The choruses feel forced and have a tendency to grate your nerves after repeated listening. The drumming is solid but it still has the unsatisfying 'click' sound they've had since W.F.O.

The guitar work is decent, Nothing too original to be found here, Most of the riffs feel like a re-hash of their previous works and works by other bands. The groove tendencies have been around in Overkill. The grooves have a weird "Electronic" feel about them, The album passes by at a certain speed, Without leaving any impact. Totally unremarkable and flat but still not bad, Considering the year it was released.

The best tracks on this album are the starter "Devil by the tail" which is a good way to kick off the album. "Struck down" and "Unholy" are two songs where the grooves sound pretty addictive. The lyrics leave a lot to be desired, Most of the time, It's just random sequences of themes put together. The album is overall a bit repetetive, The length is just about aright at around the 50 minute mark. If you're a die-hard overkill fan who'd swallow anything released by them, Give this one a try, arguably their best work in a decade or so.

This is a flawless album. And by that, I do not mean "Best album ever," because it is not. What Killbox 13 is, is an album that does not have any mistakes or anything that sucks. It doesn't ascend to the same heights of brilliance as Rust, Puppets, etc. - it doesn't try to. Instead, it slides neatly into "kickass thrash" and stays there. Kind of like Overkill in general.

To get more specific, this is the best thing Overkill has done since Horrorscope, probably because it's the thrashiest thing they've done since Horrorscope. Pretty much every track on here is good; however, a couple stand out. "Unholy" is the best song on here, featuring a couple of wicked riffs and one of those great "long extended note with Blitz carrying the melody" choruses that Overkill specializes in, as well as a start-stop ending sequence that is capable of giving some poor fucker neck problems. "No Lights" has a similar chorus; an uncharacteristically melodic tune that goes into a sweet breakdown halfway through. "Struck Down" and "I Rise" are pure ripping thrash that would not be out of place on The Years of Decay or Horrorscope, and the former has a brilliant bridge that I DARE you not to sing along with. Go ahead, try not to.

The rest of the album is solid all the way through..."The One" and "Crystal Clear" are the closest to mediocre, "Until I Die" and "The Sound of Dying" are the best. But really, they're all kickass tracks. There's nothing on here that really goes above and beyond (except maybe "Unholy"), but it's all solid, headbang-worthy thrash metal.

Interesting bit of trivia - Blitz has mentioned that this album is a semi-concept, with all the lyrics reflective of the Seven Deadly Sins. Fun new party game: trying to figure out which one is which without resorting to illegal hallucinogens trying to match up Sloth.

One last thing worth mentioned - THE PRODUCTION. This is the best metal production I've heard since...Christ, how about the Black Album? Everything is "Crystal Clear" but still, um..."Unholy"? Okay, fuck that stupid pun. Just know that the production is very good and if I Hear Black sounded like this, it would be in the running for best 'Kill album.

This is a very solid offering from the fine people that brought you the greatest invention since sliced bread: thrash metal!! The first thing you notice is - the refreshingly good guitar tone. This isn't the slightly detuned sound of Bloodletting (man that album would have been so fucking insane in standard tuning!) - this is classic-sounding and heavy at the same time.

First - Devil by the Tail. Starts off with some decent groove-ish riffs, not unlike something that could be found on The Killing Kind, or maybe From the Underground. But this album is better than those two - just that the ideas are similar. Two verses, two choruses, and then at 2:44 in - total fucking thrash mania!! Yes kids, you're not the first and you won't be the last. These guys still know, after all these years, how to knock you fucking dead with a thrash riff... then another slower section, but hey, what's this after the fourth chorus? Hey mister Lucifer... more thrashage!

This opener is a pretty representative track for this album - it's got its solid thrash moments and its less solid groove-thrash moments. Now this is not bad at all - this is the stuff Pantera would have come up with had they gone down the Cowboys direction a bit more, as opposed to those dumbfuck riffs they wrote for songs like This Love.

In any case, Damned is next. A fairly fast and aggressive number, solid headbanging to be found. Some parts remind me of Long Time Dying or maybe even Black Line from Necroshine, though this song isn't quite as dark as that one. Just a solid from beginning to end number, though in the middle there isn't the overt destroyer of a thrash riff. Oh well.

No Lights is next - this is, while not the best song on here, certainly the most interesting and shows the greatest variety in songwriting. It starts off kinda slow with some groove riffs, and then throws in a melodic guitar line that seems to suggest "power ballad" at first... then it moves into a more upbeat riff set under the verses, before going into a nice chorus. "Over, it's over, it's gone, it's a flight..." - this just works on a melodic level. Totally not thrash, but still quite excellent. Another verse, another chorus, then the song speeds up into a pretty fast headbanging moment and then explodes at around 3.20 - "got a full blown mayday, better get us home!!" This is right here the hightlight of the album right here, this 48 second long passage. This is just about the highlight of Overkill's past 3 albums. The rest of the song is only slightly above average, but that middle section makes it a winner.

Then, The One, this is a pretty typical number by Overkill standards - again, something that would not be out of place on Bloodletting but with the much better guitar tone. Nice thrash riffs in the pre-chorus part... "fall and you bleed as the demons appear, it's time to stand and deliver". This is pretty much a midpaced thrash number, especially with the solid riffage in the middle around the solo that picks up the pace a little too.

Crystal Clear, starts off with some stop-go riffage. Okay guys, just a bit too much from the Pantera catalogue, but hey, it's only the introduction fortunately. Nonetheless, this is just about the least thrashy song on here, and is the lowlight of the album... something left over from the From the Underground or the Necroshine era is what it sounds like, with a fair dose of I Hear Black too.

Then, we get the highlight... The Sound of Dying!!! Whatever the fuck that intro is, it's silly, but then we get into some fast fucking riffage. "Time will allow, as I pass through the season!!" (I have no idea what these lyrics are, but hey I'm just demonstrating parts of the song that rule, and these verses rule!) Then about halfway through we get a slow and heavy as fuck section. Ready, set, bang!!! This is pretty much the second coming of Horrorscope here... wow! "Just for killing, just gotta move me!" This is the best song on here - it's excellent in every way. Total thrash monster.

Until I Die contines the songs with death related titles. This one is slower, more brooding, and has "ballad" written all over the first part of it, but it picks up gradually, and at around 2.54 it totally goes into thrash madness. "If I had my way, I'd tear it down!" Then it goes back into ballad mode. Pretty fucking good stuff, actually.

Struck Down is probably the fastest song on here. It pretty much keeps the same speed from beginning to end, except for a few bursts here and there between verses, and one middle section... "watch me fall to Hell!" This is a Bloodletting-style song, especially the second half of that album - not all that out of place from a "Left Hand Man". Some nice solos too, and finally at the end they throw in a real banger of a riff. "Down, struck down!"

Then, the other highlight of the album - it's kinda funny that they come at tracks 6 and 9, not anywhere near the beginning. Hell if I didn't know any better I'd say this album was getting stronger as it went on. Well, kinda - it's about consistent from beginning to end. Anyway, Unholy. Thrash monster. The Killing Kind meets Horrorscope. Especially with that main break riff under the chorus. "Here but now it's gone!" This is a solid fucking banging number, kids. Overkill still cranks them out with the best of them.

Last up is another fast one... "I Rise". After the "Can't Kill a Dead Man" closer from one album ago, we have this one, which is pretty similar in vein. Nice overt thrash riff between lines of the verses, which is developed further very well after the main chorus. "I rise!!!" Thrash break! Bang your head as if up from the dead, indeed. What a fucking closer, riffs abound.

Well then - and that brings us to the end. It's Overkill, and they deliver. This band has been doing thrash metal since 1979 and they're still going strong. A worthy addition to their catalogue.