Bloodletting From The Underground

Overkill are one of my favorite Thrash bands of all time, so it was with shock and embarrassment when I recently discovered that not only did I not own a copy of their Bloodletting album, but I'd actually never even heard it. Of course, when it was released back in 2000, I wasn't really listening to very much metal, and a new Overkill album didn't even cause a blip on my music radar.

I'd stopped paying attention to Overkill after 1989's amazing The Years Of Decay album, and only started to make up for lost time with the release of Immortalis in 2007. At that time, I was surprised to find that Overkill had kept chugging along through those dark days for Metal, and I started picking up the ten albums that I'd missed while I'd had my head buried in Hardcore. For one reason or another, Bloodletting got missed in this process.

The late 90's and early 00's were not only a dark time for Metal, but also for vinyl. When I started looking for a copy of Bloodletting, I soon discovered that it had only been released on CD...and even CD pressings for this album were commanding a rather high dollar amount on eBay and discogs. Dropping $30 for a used CD just wasn't an option, so I sat back and played the waiting game.

It's all about the timing, and this time it was in my favor. While I was patiently waiting for a cheap CD to appear, I noticed that Nuclear Blast was pressing some of the late 90's Overkill on vinyl for the first time. This was the best news I could hear at the time, and I quickly jumped at the opportunity to grab each one that was being released.

Thankfully Bloodletting was one of the three albums that were finally getting pressed to vinyl. Man, what a solid Metal album. I'm so glad to finally have a copy in my collection.

Another Overkill album to finally see a release on vinyl is their all covers album, Coverkill.

While not a mandatory album, this is still a cool release of Overkill paying homage to their influences. It is a fun spin every once in a while, but why would Nuclear Blast reissue this one and not Necroshine instead?

To complete this trilogy, Nuclear Blast also gives From The Underground And Below it's first vinyl pressing. Man, this record is one of my favorite Overkill records from the 90's. What an underrated album. I'd love to see Overkill bring some of these songs back into their live set list.

All three are limited to 300 pressed on green colored vinyl.

Great job with this reissue campaign, Nuclear Blast. How about you also do W.F.O., Necroshine and a proper vinyl release of Immortalis, and we can call it good. Thanks.