Chalk up another really good effort, from this very underrated thrash metal group from New Jersey. As it pertains to their "Thrash Metal" contemporaries, Overkill has put out more albums than Metallica (9), Megadeth (15), Anthrax (11), Slayer (12), Testament (10), Exodus (10), Death Angel (8), Laaz Rockit (7) and others, but who's counting. The number of albums a band puts out isn't the measuring stick for what makes a band great, but having said that, "White Devil Armory" makes it seventeen for these hardened vets, with number eighteen rumored to be coming out later this fall.
I began my my Overkill odyssey way back in 1987, with the album "Taking Over". Though I have a ton of respect for Overkill's first two releases, I feel the band the band they are today, began with "Under the Influence" (1988). Though my favorite Overkill guitarist Bobby Gustafson has been out of the band since 1990, I prefer the two guitar attack the band has incorporated since Gustafson's departure. Stability within the band has produced some really great releases over the last decade.
There really isn't a bad tune on this album, but there are at least seven that really stand out, and they are "Down to the Bone", "PIG", "Bitter Pill", "Where There's Smoke", "Freedom Rings", "Another Day to Die", & "It's All Yours". They all slay, but "Bitter Pill" and "Where There's Smoke" are easily my two favorites. Though this album falls in line with everything this current lineup has done since (2007's) "immortalis", I have to say my favorite albums in order would be:
1. Ironbound (2010)
2. The Electric Age (2012)
3. White Devil Armory (2014)
4. Immortalis (2007)
4 1/4 stars out of 5
