Reviews list for Overkill (US-NJ) - Kill Box 13 (2003)

Between 1980 and 2003, Overkill delivered twelve full lengths, three EPs and numerous splits and videos.  In a little under 25 years the band had been knocking out albums at a rate of approximately one every two years.  That is a pretty consistent level of output by any measure and one that saw the band survive the lull following the eighties heyday of thrash metal by branching out into groove metal to keep the New Jersey/New York machine rolling on.  Taking a wider view of the whole discography and it is even more remarkable that I can still find releases in there that I have never listened to and so being able to drop any release in by Overkill as a monthly clan feature is hopefully a voyage of discovery for all once we move away from the more infamous releases.

In my thread for this feature release I billed Kill Box 13 as a "post-groove metal" era album from Overkill.  This is only half true since although thrash metal plays a part here I get much more groove metal on Kill Box 13 than I do conventional thrash metal.  In fairness to Overkill, retaining that groove metal element was inevitable really.  It had seen them through three or so releases and so was obviously an embedded part of their sound by this point.  As I reflect on the last run through of the record I did, it is the groove metal that sticks in my mind even though the better parts for me are the actual thrash moments.

However, there are a couple of challenges with Kill Box 13 for me that consign the album to the "unlikely to revisit" pile.  Firstly, it is too long at ten tracks and fifty minutes in length overall.  This coupled with my second major criticism that the album is massively top heavy and almost everything after track six should have been left for a future bonus offering of previously unreleased tracks makes this album something of a damp squib for me.  Accepting that the health issues in the band may play more than a part in this release being less than optimal, I still think the content lacks that consistent quality to justify a full length release and although I have not seen anything to suggest it was rushed to meet contractual requirements or the bands simple need to start touring something again, I would not be surprised if something other than artistic integrity drove some of the choices here.

You kinda know what you're gonna get with an Overkill record, don't you? And their twelfth album won't disappoint too many fans in that regard as you'll find the same fairly simple, well-executed thrash metal tunes with Blitz's signature snarly vocals delivery here along with the groove metal influence the band had been touting since the mid-90's. The production is great, Bobby's vocals are excellent (particularly given that he'd only recently suffered a heart attack on stage) & the shredding guitar solos are outstanding with a searing tone. There's not a lot more to say about it really. It's yet another workman-like effort that sporting a couple of clear highlights in opener "Devil by the Tail" (with it's awesome Slayer-inspired bridge section) & my personal fave "The One". It also contains a couple of flat tracks in "Damned" & ""Unholy". The rest is just kinda middling i.e. pretty enjoyable but not something that's likely to see me returning to the album in the future. "Horrorscope" will remain as the only Overkill album that I genuinely love but "Killbox 13" isn't all that far behind the band's other highly regarded records like "The Years of Decay", "Taking Over" & "Feel The Fire" in all honesty. I guess I'm just not that big an Overkill fan but I'd suggest that this was Overkill's best work in a decade from what I can remember.

For fans of Exodus, Testament & Anthrax.