From the Underground and Below

Artist: Overkill
Label: Sanctuary Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 060768621923
EAN: 0060768621923
ASIN: B000001YAF

Release Date: 1997-09-30

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Thrash & Speed Metal

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Listmania:

Ron Rotten's OVERKILL List
My CD collection - Thrash Metal
my favorite 25 metal albums
Overkill studio albums
METAL CDs no collection should be without (in random order)
Some rock albums I recommend (Vol. II)
GREAT UNDER-RATED METAL ARTISTS
OVERKILL Best to Worst
My Music Collection - Part 22
the albums you must own

Tracks:

It Lives
Save Me
Long Time Dyin'
Genocya
Half Past Dead
F.U.C.T.
I'm Alright
Rip N Tear
Promises
Little Bit O' Murder

Similar Items:

Necroshine
The Killing Kind
Bloodletting
Kill Box 13
Horrorscope

Customer Reviews:

This is what heavy metal is supposed to be!!.......2006-01-24

This is what metal is supposed to be. One of the best metal albums released in the last 10 years and I'm certain that this album was over-loked, under-rated and under-appreciated. It is catchy, blistering fast and represents the best speed metal/thrash metal in years. Overkill has created a masterpiece and it is one of the best albums and probably ranks up there with Metallica's the Black Album. I know one thing- TOP 40 radio won't touch Overkill and that there isn't a place for them in the mainstream. Overkill's album deserves 5 stars and is one of the heaviest albums in years and they were influenced by Black Sabbath and Metallica.

Overkill is a constant.......2005-08-05

To start off, my overall impression of this album is that it is average to above average. It had been ten years since I last listened to Overkill. In 1995 I was in my speed/death metal phase (pre-black album Metallica, Megedeth, Slayer, Testament, Overkill, Carcass, Entombed, Exodus, Death, etc.). However, college came along and I got swept up into different types of music. Nowadays I don't listen to metal anymore.
A month ago, I was ticked off about my living situation and my landlord, and I went back to my past and popped in my Overkill tapes for my rides in my car to and from work. Let me tell you, it was such a rush, pounding the steering wheel listening to "Elimination", "Who Tends the Fire", "Never Say Never", "Use Your Head", "Thanx for Nothin'", "SupersonicHate" "Infectious", etc. etc. etc. - and even the last album I bought from Overkill - "The Killing Kind - which I found a new appreciation of.
So, I decided to pick up where I left off and start reliving the Overkill experience. I resumed with From the Underground and Below. It's been about a month since I got this album, and it is just now starting to grow on me, sort of like a lot of Overkill's albums (Horrorscope comes to mine and that one turned out to be a classic!). Really digging "Long Time Dyin'", "The Rip 'n Tear", "Genocya", and for some reason, I like "I'm Alright". "Long Time Dyin'" is such a classic Overkill tune - has great lyrics and a great speed-metal bluesy vibe if you will. I don't even want to talk about "Promises". That tune is a total misstep if you ask me. Ballad territory is not where Blitz should enter into. And I don't consider "The Years of Decay" or "Soulitude" ballads. "Promises" for lack of a better term, lacks balls. There are two other upsetting aspects of this album. One is the fact that there's not a lot of D.D. Verni in the mix. Turn that bass up! Oh, don't get me wrong, you can still hear him, but compared to past albums, I'm disappointed. Secondly, I don't really think most of the background vocals add anything good to any song. "The Rip 'n Tear" comes to mind. However, a good overall effort from the band. Joe Comeau and Sebastian Marino don't really set the world on fire, but they sound alright to me. I love the little minute-long dirge or whatever you call that comes before "I'm Alright" - I might be mistaken on that. As for Blitz' vocals: As good as ever (and were talking 10 years since Taking Over came out!) It sounds like he has definitely tweaked his voice a little bit to hit some of the more trouble-spots, but he can still get that classic caterwaul going when he needs to. If you're like me and have been a long-time fan of this band, get this album. If you're new to the band, I suggest you start with The Years of Decay, Horrorscope, and W.F.O.

Middleaged Metal.......2005-03-06

Would you like to hear some music that'll slap you straight in the puss then kick you square in the ass? Overkill's music basically does that in general, but this album is a fantastic example of this, especially if you aren't too familiar with the group. Unlike many of the thrash bands of the good ole days, Overkill have never forgotten who they are. Granted, Underground sounds quite a bit different from Taking Over, but then again Kill Em All sounded different from Puppets, didn't it? Overkill don't seem to be playing as fast as they used to, but they sure are playing heavier. I mean frickin HEAVY! Like speed in your car, start a fight with a stranger on the street heavy. Maybe it's the advances in recording technology, I'm not sure, but I think this is as heavy as music is able to get. Listen to this stuff(or any of their recent output for that matter) and tell me if you really think Linkin Park is "heavy". Unfortuntely, the younger folks won't have the time of day for an older group of fortysomethings who don't try to clone Phil Anselmo's vocal style. But us twenty/thirtysomethings who were around when the whole thrash thing started know what the score is, don't we? These old bands are like Corn Flakes-The Original and Best. Get From The Underground and see what I'm talking about. It's heavy, it's catchy and it's fun......and you can take that to the bank!

A 1 ton anvil of real heavy metal .......2005-02-25

Overkill is what I remember heavy metal used to be. Loud, loud, edgy guitars, booming drums and screaming but understandable vocals. The guitar work on this CD is excellent and the riffs are some of the best Overkill has done over the years. Easy to slide right into and start head-banging. The singer's voice has lost a little power but still does the job. The only misstep to me is the attempted power balled "Promises" The song isn't necessarily bad, but the singer doesn't have the voice to pull it off.

A different Overkill, but still very good.......2005-02-23

After the experimentation of 'The Killing Kind' Overkill settled into a sorta bluesy groove-metal sound. Lotsa Overkill fans aren't real big on this style, and I certainly don't like this album as much as 'Years of Decay' or 'Horrorscope' but this is still a damn fine metal album, and probably better than the 2 albums that preceded it. It may not be classic Overkill, but it does what it does extremely well.

The first thing you will likely notice about `From the Underground and Below' is that this album is monstrously heavy. 'The Killing Kind' was too, but the more consistent, bruising tempos of 'From the Underground and Below' makes their ever increasing intensity all the more apparent. Though this is a groovy album, it's still pretty energetic and rarely truly plodding, and it avoids the sorta senseless, excessive solemnity that slower metal albums sometimes adapt. The riffs are definitely punishing, but still fairly memorable much of the time, though definitely not as much so as on their thrash albums. Fortunately, Blitz's vox continue to improve, with some of the most consistently catchy chorus's of their career, and a bit more genuine melody every now and then. Though the rhythm section doesn't draw too much attention to itself, it must be doing a plenty good job, considering how well this album grooves along.

It opens up with three devastatingly heavy, and excellent tracks. They aren't all that different from one another, but they have the stomping intensity and energy that makes them all worthwhile, along with more than sufficiently catchy choruses. 'Long Time Dyin'' is the best of these, and probably the best song on the album. It also has perhaps my favorite Overkill chorus, and is definitely a modern 'Kill classic. 'Genocya' is a bit different, more dense and moody, with some creepy, hissed vocals. Still, it's brutally heavy when it gets going, and is another very strong track. "Half Past Dead' is probably my second favorite track on the album. It starts out a bit balladish, but it cranks up the intensity, particularly during the powerful, shrieking chorus. 'F.U.C.T.' and 'Little Bit O' Murder' are two of the faster tracks on the album, though they're still basically groove thrash played faster. They definitely work, though they aren't two of the best tracks on the album 'I'm Alright' is a slower, doomier piece. Quite atmospheric, and with some of the best vox on the album. (particularly when everything else drops away) 'The Rip n' Tear' reminds somewhat of Overkill's bouncier pieces, though it still a groove track. This general tone doesn't work as well unless you're gonna thrash it up, but it's still a pretty fun track. 'Promises' is the oddball track. It's a ballad, and an unusually soft and overtly melodic one by Overkill's standards. It's a little weird, and Blitz voice doesn't always fit is so well, but it's effective anyway. It's got some nice melodic, but still pretty heavy riffing, and provides a good change of pace.

Kcin likes it. Highly recommended.

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