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OVERCHARGE
Accelerate

Unspeakable Axe (2014)
Rating: 7/10

Italian rockers Overcharge dabble in speedy thrashing punk and Accelerate seems to be the ideal title for their new work of art.

The band – consisting of Fabio (vocals / bass), Josh (guitar) and Panzer (drums) – hails from Varese and was formed in 2012, releasing their self-titled EP a year later. Now in 2014, the trio is keen to batter us with this ten-track debut full-length release courtesy of the good folks at Unspeakable Axe.

There’s a lot of this sort of metal going around at the moment; y’know the type – raging, frothing guitars hinting at New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, speedy percussion and a rabid vocalist modelled on the warty cogs of Motörhead’s Lemmy. In fact, Fabio is straight from the Lemmy mould and sounds as if he’s swallowed a batch of tin cans in his quest for the gravelled and the grotesque.

Of course, this rusty style suits the oily sound to perfection with the band running through the opening title track like a rabid cheetah with a rocket up its arse. It’s fast, leather-clad and takes no prisoners and is formed of a rollicking, clanking bass that flows in true Motörhead style with an added punk punch.

‘As If There Were No Tomorrow’ does exactly the same thing; existing as a no-holds barred, no frills composition of pure adrenalin-fuelled mayhem, most likely better suited to stage rather than dreaded download or whichever format you choose. It’s pure yet unhealthy rock ’n’ roll inspired by the early 80s metal scene where Metallica’s burning passion collides with the punk nuances of Discharge. The result of this amalgamation is one big sweaty, bloody brawl that coughs up a track like ‘Dirt’ one minute, the next a severed limb reveals the intoxicated judder of ‘Nothing On The Way’, while the speedball that is ‘No Law’ emerges amongst the shards of bone that have been puked from a bloody hole of a mouth.

Accelerate is the sort of riotous record that wounds with every blow, and it will long continue after the bell has rung to signal the end of this street brawl. Of course, the downside is that there are no real standout tracks. In fact, due to their rather generic nature of being fast, furious and lacking identity, all the songs kind of melt into one another; ‘Drown In Your Own’ is just as saliva-coated as ‘Don’t Waste A Breath’, with both cuts sporting that “don’t care” punk attitude.

However, for those of you who have short attention spans, this could well be the best night out you’ve had for years. You may not remember how you got home and the blood that coats your sheets could be from any and every orifice, but one thing’s for sure: Overcharge’s debut kick to the balls is sure to leave one heck of a bruise in the morning.

Neil Arnold

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