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Overkill is an American thrash metal band formed in 1980 in New Jersey. The band has been active since 1984, releasing 16 studio albums, 2 EPs, 2 live albums and a "covers" album. The band also has a notable mascot (named Chaly), a skeletal bat with a skull-like face, bony wings, and green eyes. It has appeared on most of their album covers. Overkill has gone through many line-up changes, with singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni remaining the only consistent members. Along with Anthrax the band is one of the most successful East coast thrash metal bands. Overkill was formed in 1980 from the ashes of the punk band "The Lubricunts", featuring Rat Skates and D.D. Verni (real names Lee Kundrat and Carlo Verni). Verni and Skates placed an ad looking for a guitarist and singer which was answered by singer Bobby Ellsworth and the first incarnation of Overkill was formed. After rejecting several names, including "Virgin Killer", the band finally settled on Overkill. Early covers, especially those done under the "Virgin Killers" name, were punk songs by The Ramones, The Dead Boys and others. By late 1980, the band had recruited two guitarists, and the setlist was made up of songs by bands such as Motörhead ("Overkill", half of the Ace of Spades album), Judas Priest ('Tyrant' was their closer), and Riot. Along with the new influx of heavy metal covers, the band still played a smattering of punk covers, with extra distortion, intensity, and speed, marking Overkill as one of the first thrash metal bands. In 1981, guitarists Rich Conte and Bobby Gustafson joined the band. At this point, the band started writing original songs, including "Grave Robbers" (later renamed "Raise The Dead"), "Overkill", and "Unleash The Beast (Within)". More songs would follow, including "Death Rider" (1981) and "Rotten To The Core" (1982). In 1983 Conte left and Bobby Gustafson remained as the sole guitarist. The band became a staple at New York and New Jersey clubs, such as L'Amours. Verni gave Ellsworth the nickname "Blitz" due to his over-the-top lifestyle, a lifestyle that once earned Ellsworth an ejection from the band for a few days in 1983. Around this time, the classic green logo was adopted, which Rat Skates specifically designed to stand out on a poster loaded with red and black logos of the other bands on the bill. In 1983, the lineup of Rat Skates, D.D. Verni, Bobby Gustafson and Bobby Blitz, released the Power In Black demo, a recording that made as much impact in the underground tape trading circuit as demos by up-and-coming Bay area thrash bands like Exodus and Testament. Power In Black gained the band two compilation appearances, 'Feel The Fire' was included on "New York Metal '84" and 'Death Rider' appeared on volume V of the legendary Metal Massacre series. The band was also able to secure a small recording deal with Azra/Metal Storm Records that resulted in the 1984 four track EP Overkill, that quickly sold out, instantly pushing the band to the forefront of the fledgling thrash metal movement. Though it is said that the band never saw any money from the release, the Overkill EP garnered the band massive underground interest, and the attention of Jon Zazula, the owner of Megaforce Records, one of the most prominent independent heavy metal record labels at the time. Megaforce signed Overkill to a new multi-album record contract and released their full length debut album Feel The Fire in 1985. Hailed by many critics and fans as a thrash metal masterpiece, the album cemented the band's position as one of the driving forces of the east coast thrash movement. The band spent the better part of 1985 and 1986 touring in support of Feel The Fire, beginning as support act for Megadeth's "Peace Sells" US tour and later in Europe with Anthrax and Agent Steel. 1987 marked the release of Overkill's second album Taking Over, the first to be released by Megaforce in cooperation with the major label Atlantic Records. The album featured improved song writing and production and had a somewhat more epic style, showcased in such songs as the anthemic "In Union We Stand". The song was chosen to be Overkill's first music video, used to promote the band through the booming new medium of music television. Another European tour followed, this time opening for Helloween. Late in 1987, the !!!Fuck You!!! EP was released, consisting of a studio recording of 'Fuck You as well as a handful of live tracks recorded earlier that year in Cleveland. 1987 also saw the departure of drummer Rat Skates. He was replaced by Mark Archibole for a few gigs, then on a permanent basis by European drummer Bob "Sid" Falck previously of Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone. Overkill released the follow-up to Taking Over, the aptly titled Under the Influence, in 1988. Once again produced by Alex Perialas, Under the Influence was much more raw and thrashy, lacking most of the grand and epic atmosphere of its predecessor. Suffering from rushed writing and production, the album is often regarded as a snapshot and a step backwards for the band. The song "Hello From The Gutter" was released as a single, and the music video gained regular airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Overkill kept up constant touring all over the world, furthering their reputation as one of the most active live metal bands. Overkill released their breakthrough album The Years of Decay in 1989. It was recorded with famed producer Terry Date (Pantera, White Zombie, Soundgarden) and featured the band's best production to date. It mixed the raw approach of "Under The Influence" with more complex song structures and epic elements, resulting in a more serious atmosphere and longer songs, including the eight minute title track and the ten minute "Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher." The uptempo thrasher "Elimination" was released as a single and the music video again received regular airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. The song became a fan favorite and would be played live at every show, even 20 years later. Live support of The Years of Decay took place, in part, on a tour called "Dawn Of The Decade" together with label mates Testament. In 1990, guitarist and songwriter Bobby Gustafson left the band. Verni and Gustafson had long locked horns over the direction of the band, and in the end Blitz sided with Verni, asking Gustafson to leave Overkill. The remaining members added two new guitarists to the band; Rob Cannavino who had been Gustafson's guitar technician, and Merritt Gant, from the New Jersey thrash band Faith Or Fear. The 'new' Overkill recorded their fifth album Horrorscope, again with Terry Date, in 1991. Featuring the furious riffs and trade-off solos of new guitarists Cannavino and Gant, and the refined songwriting of Verni and Ellsworth, Horrorscope quickly silenced fan fears that the loss of a chief songwriter would ruin the band. Today, the album is widely regarded as one of the Overkill's defining moments and is arguably their heaviest release. Focusing on a darker, heavier style, the album spawned the doomy single "Horrorscope", a departure from the band's earlier singles, which had traditionally been uptempo songs. The band continued to tour constantly, fully cementing their reputation as one of the premier live bands of the genre. In 1992, during the Horrorscope tour, Sid Falck left the band. Admittedly never a big fan of thrash metal music, Sid said that he had initially wanted to push his drumming to the limit by playing the most complex type of music (of the era), and in time he decided to pursue other musical interests. Sid was replaced by M.O.D. drummer Tim Mallare, with whom the 1993 album I Hear Black was recorded. Produced by Alex Perialas (who by now had worked w
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