Overkill

The Electric Age (eOne)

“Got a-lotta mouth for a Jersey white boy,” screeches Overkill mouthpiece Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth sans wink on the Garden State thrashers’ 15th studio LP. Sprier than its Ironbound predecessor, The Electric Age sprints at a Preakness gait, liquid-steel opener “Come and Get It” and titular inspiration “Electric Rattlesnake” (with its scarred bridge, hard rock plateau, and orgasmic solo) leading this supersonic heatseeker. Hazing “Black Daze” and the throttling, Judas Priest-like Painkiller “Save Yourself” offset lesser closers, but otherwise Overkill’s renaissance abides. ***.5

This article appears in August 10 • 2012.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.