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Overdrive: The Final Nightmare
Overdrive: The Final Nightmare
Melodic Metal (NWoBHM)
3.5/5.0
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Pure Rock Records
Words: Craig Hartranft Added: 13.08.2014
I suspect, for England's Overdrive, not much has changed for the band. They're still kicking out the jams like it was 1981, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was wowing the rock world. Certainly, like most of us from back in the day, their hair is a little thinner, a little more gray, and a few more pounds have called for some wardrobe adjustments. Overdrive returns with their sixth album, The Final Nightmare.
Overdrive: framed.
I can basically tell you that there isn't a modern band playing Overdrive's type of old school melodic metal. They've whipped together the basic foundation of melodic hard rock, added crisp guitar leads, a deeper rhythm section, and some interesting keyboards that range from piano to straight synths to old school hammond organ. They might remind of some combination of Deep Purple and early Rainbow.
I can also say that at the start, with the first spin, I wasn't all that impressed. Frankly, the first three songs were generally boring, enough to make me wonder whether I wanted to continue. But then some improvement came with Twisting My Mind, an average hard rock song, but with a very catch refrain. Wasted bumps up the tempo for some more lively and, once more, has a crafty chorus. Lost on a Mountain has a steady melodic metal groove, a rather sharp solo after the half way point, but then this interesting flourish of piano. Now things are being to get interesting. Within both Nightwalker and Taken Young, Tim Hall keyboards offer more atmosphere, the nearly classic piano in the latter, the comabination of piano and symphonic synths in the latter. These two songs are easily the highlights of the album, and my favorite cuts.
But, really, what you have to do is spin this album more than once or twice, as I did, to catch some of the nuances of Overdrive's materials. For most who recall the early days of the NWoBHM, this will likely be a case of deja vu all over again.
Overdrive - Taken Young (Ben's Song)
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In Short
For most who recall the early days of the NWoBHM, Overdrive's The Final Nightmare will likely be a case of deja vu all over again.
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