He who sells the most gets the pole positions." Overkill's sound has influenced the genre of thrash metal. Their technique draws on bits and pieces of punk and hard rock as well as NWOBHM. These elements blend to create a fast, aggressive style unique to the band and make Overkill's sound easily recognizable to metal fans; as a result, they have been referred to as "the Motörhead of thrash metal". The band has been influenced by a variety of music, including heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock and classic rock acts such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Accept,Judas Priest, The Who, Aerosmith, Rush, KISS, Alice Cooper, Queen, UFO, Jethro Tull, Motörhead, Saxon, Venom, Ted Nugent, Humble Pie, Rainbow, Manowar, Wishbone Ash and Starz, as well as punk rock and glam rock acts such as the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Damned, the New York Dolls, Lou Reed, The Vibrators, Generation X and the Dead Boys. Many of today's new-wave thrash bands have been influenced by Overkill, including Evile, Havok and Mantic Ritual, the latter of whom incorporates a variety of stylistic traits reminiscent of Overkill and other thrash bands that had found success in the past. The band has also been cited as an influence on the groove metal genre; Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell had cited Bobby Gustafson's performance on the albums Under the Influence and The Years of Decay as the source of inspiration for the band's transition from glam metal to thrash/groove metal, as well as The Years of Decay producer Terry Date's production for Pantera's 1990 album Cowboys from Hell. Members Current members Carlo "D.D." Verni – bass, backing vocals Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth – lead vocals Dave Linsk – lead guitar, backing vocals Derek "The Skull" Tailer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Jason Bittner – drums Discography Feel the Fire (1985) Taking Over (1987) Under the Influence (1988) The Years of Decay (1989) Horrorscope (1991) I Hear Black (1993) W.F.O. (1994) The Killing Kind (1996) From the Underground and Below (1997) Necroshine (1999) Bloodletting (2000) Killbox 13 (2003) ReliXIV (2005) Immortalis (2007) Ironbound (2010) The Electric Age (2012) White Devil Armory (2014) The Grinding Wheel (2017) The Wings of War (2019) Scorched (2023) References External links 1980 establishments in New Jersey American thrash metal musical groups American groove metal musical groups Atlantic Records artists Heavy metal musical groups from New Jersey MNRK Music