March 10, 2020. Overkill was headlining at House of Blues Orlando for their Wings Over USA Tour putting on a great show to unfortunately a very light crowd. Two days later the music world stopped due to COVID-19. The pandemic shut down music tours across the world and no one knew when concerts would come back. Overkill was the last artist I photographed until a one-off concert in April 2021. Summer 2021 started to bring back tours, but even then tours were being canceled as the Omnicron variant ripped its way around the world. By the start of 2022, the pandemic new cases were starting to level out. Concerts were back in full swing and we rarely started to see rescheduled or canceled tours. And now here I was two years later getting to photograph and review Overkill again as part of their Wings of War USA Tour with Prong and Cultus Black. It felt like things have come full circle and it was definitely needed.
Unlike in 2020, House of Blues Orlando was packed that evening with fans excited to see live music and the majority were fans of Overkill and Prong based on the merchandise they were wearing or in their hands. But, before that would happen, the attendees were treated to a very unique experience from a band known as Cultus Black (presented as CVLTVS BLACK). I hadn’t heard of their music before, so I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. When they stepped out on stage, it was 5 people wearing what looked like tight-fitting masks with eye holes cut out all dressed in black and one unmasked man, body-painted all in white with black outlines and a symbol in the middle of his forehead. It took some internet digging to learn he calls himself “L” and the rest of his group are his cult. And when they started playing, it was awesome.
Cultus Black hits hard in all aspects of their music. Their drums are thunderous, the bass is deep, the guitars are wild and ripping, and L’s vocals go from deep to screaming loud with little effort. Their opening song “Witch Hunt” is one of those songs that if you’re not moving and jumping around during it you may be dead. The energy from it was totally intense. Their song “Burn” had that same type of intensity which totally amped up the crowd and had them all singing along with the band. Their most recent single “Nevermine” had that same hard-hitting energy with more clear singing with snippets of unclean. I really like that song.
There’s a bunch of mixed reviews from fans on bands that use elements like masks or makeup as to whether it helps or hinder them. Some say bands need to focus on their music to make themselves great. Others will say bands need to stand out from others. Well, Cultus Black has both going well for them. The enigmatic personas on stage, their crowd interaction, plus some really solid music makes them standout amongst other bands out there today. I truly enjoyed seeing even the interaction they gave me during their set, which I’ll tell you every media photographer loves. There is nothing like having an artist point you out, flip you the middle finger, or get right up close and personal with you during their set.
The band performed a cover of Nirvana’s “Negative Creep” that night and closed out with an amazing single titled “You Make Me Sick”, which had the whole crowd going. You can find their music and merch HERE: Their setlist (if my info is correct) was:
- Witch Hunt
- Venom
- Killing the Beautiful
- Burn
- Nevermine
- Negative Creep (Nirvana Cover)
- Devour
- You Make Me Sick
Next up to the stage was the metal trio Prong. Formed in 1986 Prong has been a force in the New York City music scene and released their first album Force Fed in 1989 and followed up with Beg to Differ in 1990. They released 3 more studio albums until around 1996 when they disbanded and the members joined other bands. Prong reformed in 2002 and continued released 6 additional studio albums with Zero Days being the last one in 2017. Prong did release an EP titled Age of Defiance in 2019 and is working on a new studio album. The trio has had multiple band members on bass and guitar over the years with Tommy Victor (vocals, guitar) being the consistent band member since the start. Prong is currently Tommy Victor, Jason Christopher (bass), and Griffin McCarthy (drums).
Prong started off hard and heavy with “Test” from their 1994 album Cleansing. Tommy was excited on stage and playing like he’s never played before. They went back into their earlier years performing “Disbelief” from their 1987 album Primitive Origins. They moved into the title track from their 1990 album Beg To Differ. It was already a pretty killer set from Prong and was going to get better as it went.
One of the things I really love about Prong is their sound for being a trio. The way their music blends and harmonizes so wonderfully while keeping such a great heavy sound to them. Tommy is filled with so much energy on stage. He plays with such alacrity it’s hard to even track the movement of his hands. But, the jumps he performs during his playing is insane. And the air he gets underneath him during it is totally wild. Jason is more stoic on the stage but is totally into the music. The way he grooves playing the bass and how quick he does it is a sight to behold. Griffin though, for as young as he is (which Tommy pointed out during the set that night), is truly talented and matches the speed of Tommy and Jason keeping that Prong sound alive and well.
Tommy constantly spoke to the crowd trying to get them more amped than they already were. His energy is so infectious and the crowd was more than happy to oblige to his requests. The band did perform “Cut-Rate” from the 2019 Age of Defiance EP along with “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” from Cleansing. Prong had an excellent set that night and the fans were thrilled by their performance. You can find their music and merch HERE. Their set list that night was:
- Test
- Disbelief
- Beg to Differ
- Unconditional
- Cut-Rate
- Broken Peace
- Another Wordly Device
- Whose Fist Is This Anyway?
- Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
- However It May End
And then the crowd was ready for the headliners Overkill! The thrash metal band from the Garden State (New Jersey) formed in 1980 and released their first album Feel The Fire in 1985. The band was signed to Atlantic Records in 1986 being one of the first thrash metal bands signed to a major label. Their second album Taking Over in 1987 hit mainstream success and charted on the Billboard 200. Their following albums continued that same success including I Hear Black in 1993 and W.F.O. hitting the Top Ten on the Billboard Heatseekers charts. Overkill also had international success and found three of their albums during the 2010s also making it onto the Billboard 200. The band in total has 19 studio albums, a cover song album, 2 EPs, and 3 live albums. Overkill consists of Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (vocals), Carlos “D.D.” Verni (bass), Derek Tailer (rhythm guitar), and Jason Bittner (drums). Lead guitarist Dave Linsk was not on tour with the band. Machine Head’s guitarist Phil Demmel stepped in to join Overkill for this tour.
The band kicked off with “Wrecking Crew” from the 1987 album Taking Over. Fast-paced, hard-hitting, and exactly what you expected from Overkill to kick off the show. The crowd was already moving fast and furious to their music. “Electric Rattlesnake” from 2012’s The Electric Age continued that furious pace that only Overkill can maintain. They continued on with “Hello From The Gutter” from 1988’s Under The Influence. Overkill was full steam ahead that night and the fans were loving it all.
Overkill is much like their song “Mean, Green, Killing Machine” (from the 2017 album The Grinding Wheel, and yes they played it that night). The band is a unit that likes to hit the fans with hard thrash music set to take no prisoners at every performance. Bobby’s high-pitched vocals are perfect get the crowd roaring in approval and he lets them loose at every song. D.D. wails away on that bass with speed and intensity and gets the crowd involved urging them on. Jason stays focused behind the drums, but whips out such immense drumbeats they echo rip through your bones. Derek keeps the rhythm going and plays with the crowd pointing them out and throwing out picks to the crowd. Derek also loves to mess with the photographers in the photo pit and being the only one that night, he was constantly throwing picks at me at full speed intending to bean me with them. He got me good twice that night. And Phil fit right in with the band speed playing through the songs and getting into that Overkill mode. They are a legendary band in the metal community and the fans were showing their love that night.
One of the things I also love about them is their dedication to the instrumental. Too many bands forget about the instrumental portion of a performance that metal fans love so much. Give us the guitar solo, a bass solo, and especially a drum solo. Overkill never forgets that and gave each of their members their time in the spotlight and Bobby stepped off stage during songs to allow Overkill to play their hearts out for the fans.
The band played some great songs that evening including “Head of a Pin” from their most recent album The Wings of War, “In Union We Stand” from Taking Over, and “Ironbound” the title track from their 2010 album. But, of course, Overkill had to finish it off right with a long encore that included my favorite “Welcome to the Garden State” also from The Wings of War. Bobby clearly pointed out the crowd felt like a bunch who were living in Florida hiding from the cops and made us honorary members of New Jersey. But finished off in style with a cover of Motorhead’s “Overkill” and The Subhuman’s “Fuck You”.
You can find Overkill’s music and merch HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Wrecking Crew
- Electric Rattlesnake
- Hello From The Gutter
- Rotten to the Core
- Bring Me the Night
- Head of a Pin
- Horrorscope
- Long Time Dyin’
- In Union We Stand
- Mean, Green, Killing Machine
- Ironbound
- Elimination
Encore:
- Necroshine
- Welcome to the Garden State
- Fuck You (The Subhumans Cover)
- Overkill (Motorhead Cover)
- Fuck You (Reprise) (The Subhumans Cover)
Overall, everyone’s performance that night was just fantastic. And Overkill was just as good as I saw them two years ago. I’m so looking forward to when they come back again. And if you’ve never seen them perform, you absolutely must and learn about the force known as Overkill.
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