Overdose

with The Spudmonsters, Skrew at the Rat
by Chaz Thorndike

Sick as a dog but I wouldn’t miss this show even if I was dead. This is like seeing Sepultura Jr., Tree Sr., and Ministry Jr. Actually, I did try to weasel out, but the Editor was sicker than I was, and his sympathy was along the lines of, “Stop whining and go to the show, you pussy. You back out and I’ll shut you off.” Click. So I went.

Overdose‘s intro of tribal electric percussion set the mood for the show. Big, hairy, scary, heavily-tattooed Brazilians with lots of hair cranking out tight-as-shit, multi-tempoed, heavy tunes. Overdose opened with vocalist B.Z. hunkering down and wailing on the electric drum pads for the intro of “Rio, Sambe e Porrada No Morro.” He may be a little guy, but he’s an intense brother. The two guitars kick in with crisp staccato bursts of true crunch power. The band ran through most of the songs on their Futurist release, Progress of Decadence. It’s pretty hard to decipher what the fuck he’s roaring, but you catch the general drift. The lyrics are inside the CD in case you’re really curious. Hangin’ out with them after their set, I found them friendly and sincere, once you get past the language barrier. Overdose is a loud, heavy, tribal-influenced unit. And as far as enlightening between-song banter goes, who said that was even needed?