After a last minute change of venue from The Wulfrun to the Civic Bar, and for the better in my opinion, as the turnout would have looked embarassing in a venue the size of The Wulfrun, as well as making the gig much more intimate which gave it a lot better atmosphere than it would have had, it was time for a night of pure thrash.

After managing to catch the last few songs of CRIPPER, I was eagerly awaiting to see the main support act tonight. Greek thrashers SUICIDAL ANGELS delivered an excellent performance with their set near enough entirely made up of tracks from latest album, ‘Sanctify the Darkness’. Songs like ‘Bloodthirsty’, ‘The Pestilence of Saints’ and ‘Apokathilosis’ all went down a treat with the crowd, as they blistered their way through their set.

25 years on since debut album ‘Feel The Fire’ was released and New Jersey thrash legends OVERKILL are still going strong, and with a brilliant new album from start to finish in the form of ‘Ironbound’, there’s no stopping these guys, and tonight’s gig was one to be remembered for a while for all concerned. Not only did they deliver a killer set of top quality thrash, the pit, besides being one fo the best I have seen for a while, was absolutely amazing showing their full appreciation for OVERKILL as it never relented for the entire set.

Opening up with ‘The Green And Black’ from latest album, this was one of three new tracks on offer tonight, with the others being title track ‘Ironbound’ and the sublime ‘Bring Me The Night’, all of which sounded awesome live. With such an extensive back catalogue under their belts, only handful of albums missed out on a showing, with cracking renditions of ‘Feel The Fire’, ‘Hello From The Gutter’, and ‘Wrecking Crew’ all going down well, while the crowd sang in union for the mellower style and aptly named ‘In Union We Stand’.

Thrash gigs don’t get any better than they do like tonight, and with OVERKILL on top of their game, classics like ‘Rotten To The Core’ and ‘Bare Bones’ were played to note perfection before the excellent ‘Elimination’ rounded the main set off. With a bit of a lengthy break before the encore, due to the fact that power seemed to have been lost on more than a few bits of equipment, they soldiered on to deliver a crushing encore which included ‘Necroshine’ and ‘Old School’ before ending with ‘Fuck You’ with ‘Sonic Reducer’ thrown into the middle for good measure.

OVERKILL showed tonight that even after 25 years, they haven’t lost any of their edge or sheer brilliance that make them one of the top thrash acts still going today. Along with bands like TESTAMENT, EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL amongst others, they are keeping the thrash genre going strong and showing the young and upcoming bands how it’s done. ‘Here’s To The Old School!’.

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Photography By Alexander Shaw(Overkill Photo’s click here)