I'll admit I decided to review this album based largely on the merit of the cover art. But let's be real: look at that shit, it's fucking rad. On top of that, I was lucky enough to discover that Nuclear Holocaust deliver exactly what you want them to: no holds barred, vicious, unfuckwithable thrash/death metal. Their music is harsh, unforgiving and wonderfully brutal, but also a touch lighthearted. Sure things aren't transcendent or revolutionary but that's not the point. All that Overkill Commando is meant to do, as far as I can tell, is get you to fucking mosh. With circle pit-inspiring bass drums, potent riffs and a vocalist who is apparently torn straight out of hell, Overkill Commando showcases a band who love thrash metal's wondrous violence and who want to drive the ballsy and demented tones of the genre to the next level. It's hard to not break out your two step, because even though Nuclear Holocaust can be heavy as all get out, at their core they are just hyper-vicious thrash kids.
Overkill Commando comes right out of the gate with some demented riffing and wonderfully harsh vocals. The band's trademark stomp, as seen in tracks like "Pulverised" shows us the vile magic of Nuclear Holocaust. Even though things stay largely within the death and thrash metal polemic, it's hard not to have a good time when this band is raging out of your speakers. The production on the record suffers a bit too. Things aren't quite as polished as they could be, and strangely enough this makes the album almost too chaotic. The muddiness, especially on the slower parts, is frustrating to deal with and pulls me out of the thrash metal world. If this whole thing wasn't so messy I feel like I would have a much easier time handling all that it has to offer. As is though, the chaos of the production does add to the vibe a bit, but isn't quite as satisfying as one would hope. Even though Nuclear Holocaust seem to have most of the requisite elements, the fact that they are only just starting out shines through.
This is a band with a ton of potential and one who understand the thrash metal dynamic far better than many, if not most of their peers. These Polish madmen unleash a furious attack with every passing chord and they will stomp you into the dirt without even flinching. The sense of blood worship and inner torment that makes thrash metal and by extension Nuclear Holocaust so appealing to me is readily apparent on every track; it just leaves me wondering where the band is going to go next. I mean there are obvious fixes for them, especially with regards to the production quality, I just think it could go on to be so much more. In fact I could realistically see these guys taking on the mantle of Municipal Waste or Ghoul in the next few years. But as we all know, only time will tell.
Score: 7/10
