We are no strangers to Texan thrashers Overt Enemy here at the Midlands Rocks, having reviewed their Inception x Possession compilation back in 2020. Since then the band have been far from idle, releasing a live album in ‘23, all the while honing their sound into a razor sharp blade. After teasing us with a few singles, Overt Enemy return with their first studio album of all new material and proving the old adage true, it was certainly worth the wait. Featuring ten tracks that explode with undiluted rage, Insurrection is a record that takes thrash into new realms of brutality and should transport them from their native Texas and onto the global stage.

Beginning life in 2013, Overt Enemy first came to prominence via the aforementioned 2020 comp that pieced together their first two extended plays. For those unable to witness the band’s live prowess, Official Live: Thunder In The Hill Country bottled some of that magic, but since then we’ve been waiting patiently for a full-length studio offering. As if to make up for lost time this quartet arrive kicking and screaming with opening track ‘Reinstated’. There’s no time to waste on fancy introductions or elongated preambles, just a chugging riff that appears like a division of Sherman tanks and then the band are off, delivering a warlike brand of thrash, and one that takes no prisoners. It’s a sound that perfectly replicates the heat of battle; the guitars soar like phosphorous flares, the rhythm section pounds like bullets hitting flesh and lyrics are barked as if by a shell-shocked general. It’s an approach that offers little in the way of redemption, but good thrash never should; songs such as ‘No One Left To Die’ flick a switch in the listener and are guaranteed to initiate mosh pits wherever they’re unleashed. That doesn’t make Overt Enemy one-dimensional, far from it; there’s plenty of variety on offer, from the juxtaposition of male and female vocals, the foil of light and shade, along with the constant flux of tempo, all conspiring to ensure that things never become staid. However, there’s no denying that this kind of blitzkrieg thrash is what Overt Enemy do best, and Insurrection delivers in spades.

Overt Enemy was originally conceived in 2013 as a tribute to Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman, and while the band have definitely grown in the intervening years they certainly haven’t torn up their roots and you can definitely hear that Slayer punch all over this record. Yet there’s also a strong groove underpinning these songs that recalls classic Hatebreed and Pantera, whilst the songs are delivered with the clinical precision of Demanufacture-era Fear Factory. With a lyrical bent that’s as brutal as their music; topics include chronic pain, substance abuse and serial kills (let’s face it, all the good stuff), Overt Enemy have created an album that attacks the head and heart simultaneously.

Insurrection is the sound of a band who’re armed and dangerous and ready to take on the world.

• Insurrection is released on 26th September 2025 (available here).
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Track List:

1. Reinstated
2. No One Left To Die
3. The Truth
4. Bleed Like I Do
5. Psychotic Episode
6. Go Hard Or Go Home
7. Eradication
8. Fire In The Skies
9. Insurrection
10. Even Murder