Watch: OVERKILL Performs Without Guitarist DEREK T…

OVERKILL guitarist Derek Tailer was forced to sit out the band’s November 8 concert at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reportedly after falling ill. The New Jersey thrash metal veterans went ahead and played the show, which was part of the group’s North American tour with KING DIAMOND, as a four-piece, with vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth joined by guitarist Dave Linsk, drummer Jeramie Kling and bassist Christian Olde Wolbers. Fan-filmed video of the gig can be seen below.

Olde Wolbers recently hooked up with OVERKILL as a temporary replacement for D.D. Verni, who is dealing with an ongoing “shoulder issue”.

OVERKILL‘s tour with KING DIAMOND launched on October 15 in San Antonio, Texas and is scheduled to conclude on December 6 in Dallas, Texas.

For some of its European shows in September, OVERKILL recruited KREATOR bassist Christian “Speesy” Giesler as a temporary replacement for Verni.

In a recent interview with Portugal’s Caminhos Metálicos, Ellsworth addressed Verni‘s physical ailment, saying: “D.D.‘s got a shoulder issue that’s been going on for this entire time, even back to the last record, [2019’s] ‘The Wings Of War’, it was beginning back then. So I think that the amount of shows that we did was actually a light amount. We would normally do more shows, if he was healthy enough to do them. And he’s gotta rehab that shoulder, so he can only do so much, put so much stress on it.”

Verni previously sat out OVERKILL‘s April 2024 Latin American tour as he was recovering from shoulder surgery. Filling in for him on the trek was former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. Verni returned to the live stage on May 17 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest at The Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

OVERKILL‘s latest album, “Scorched”, was released in April 2023 via Nuclear Blast Records.

OVERKILL played its first concert with Kling (VENOM INC.) on August 30 at the Posada Rock festival in Câmpulung Muscel, Romania. Kling joined the veteran outfit as the replacement for Jason Bittner, who announced his exit from OVERKILL earlier that month.

Bittner joined OVERKILL in 2017 and played drums on the band’s last two studio albums, 2019’s “The Wings Of War” and “Scorched”.