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Decent Thrash, Worth Buying - 75%

SpyreWorks, December 18th, 2009

This was one of the first thrash metal CD's I ever bought or fully listened to, and it was definitely the first "underground" thrash album I ever bought. At first sight, it looks pretty standard -- cheesy album name, lyrics that sound like a 10-year old's description of Fallout 3 etc.. And to an extent, that's all the album is -- standard.

The vocals on this album are pretty original. The blackened "singing" that Toxic Holocaust is notable for carry on in this album, and they sound even more powerful and heavy due to the better production. The guitar, bass and drums are also very well enhanced, but all this is for naught, since despite all of the great production, there is almost no creativity in this album at all. Most of the thrash riffs sound almost exactly the same, and the one or two melodic riffs aren't very catchy and just serve as filler. You won't mind while listening to the first two tracks, or maybe even first three, but after the ten minute mark you'll quickly start losing interest and try finding the better songs on the album. The album is so repetitive I can predict exactly how a song is going to go: first, a basic thrash riff, then after about 10 seconds, the vocals (which start to sound pretty annoying after a while, I might add) begin, and after that it's just the same thing for the rest of the song, then repeated in the one after it.

However, despite all the average-ness and repetition in this album, there are a few tracks that stand out and make the album decent enough to buy. "Wild Dogs", the opening track, is easily the best song on the album, "The Lord of the Wasteland" is pretty good, due to it being practically the only song with a creative riff, and "City of a Million Graves", which has a cool drum intro and catchy chorus.

In conclusion, this album is totally worth buying, especially for thrash fans, but if you didn't enjoy Toxic Holocaust's earlier material, you shouldn't get this album, since it's essentially the same thing. "An Overdose of Death..." is largely repetitive and uncreative, but a few gems in the album make it worth paying for and an enjoyable experience, as long as you skip some of the boring songs.