In a recent interview with Moshpit Passion, Overkill's frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth provided a glimpse into the timeline for the New Jersey thrashers next studio album. Fans eagerly awaiting the follow-up to Scorched (2023) can expect a new record on the horizon, though it may take a while.
According to Ellsworth, the band is planning to begin writing in the first half of 2025, with recording scheduled by the year's end and a possible release in 2026. "Well, we just kind of slot it into a timeframe. We're looking at, I suppose, the majority of the first half of 2025 as being that timeframe for the writing. And probably recording by the end of 2025 and then releasing in 2026. Now I don't know who we're gonna release with — I mean, I assume it's Nuclear Blast; they have one more option. There's no direction that we're looking at," he added.
The conversation also touched on the band's approach to changes, both musically and within its lineup. Ellsworth emphasized that these shifts are often more apparent to those within the band, and elaborated that Overkill's internal dynamics have been key in their decision-making, especially when it comes to personnel changes: "I don't think directional changes are necessarily recognized by the outside. It's more recognized on the inside because I'm involved in all the interior workings of the band. We're like the mechanics that keep the machine running, so we know when something needs to be changed."
Reflecting on the departure of former drummer Jason Bittner, Ellsworth commented, "Listen, he's a great drummer — don't get me wrong; he's a good friend — but it was, like, you just felt that change was coming because… Tension can be a good thing in a heavy metal band, but too much tension can bring you to your own demise; it can destroy everything. So I think that reinvention, especially at this age, is not necessarily the right way to think of things.."
At 65, Ellsworth isn't thinking about reinventing the band but rather focusing on sharpening his existing strengths: "I think the way to think of it, at 65, is what are my strengths? And can I make my strengths stronger? Now when I talk to you about dropping the cigarettes and the vaping, I got stronger. Which is fucking weird for like a guy who's been doing this for… Guys don't live as long as this [laughs], let alone in rock and roll.
"So I think the fact that I can put cigarettes down and go, 'I can sing all the time now,' it's only gonna make the records better. And I think that that was one, for sure, one of the feelings that we got through 'Scorched' was, like, 'Listen to this fucking…' We sound like a fucking young, fucking hungry, fucking we-fucking-mean-it band. And that's what the fucking metal is all about. So I'm not gonna overthink it. I'm not gonna reinvent, but I'm gonna play to the strengths."
In terms of lineup changes, Overkill introduced Jeramie Kling (ex-Venom Inc.) as their new drummer at the Posada Rock festival in Romania on August 30, following Bittner’s departure earlier in the month.
