OVERKILL singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth says that he doesn't have a problem with the band's former guitarist Bobby Gustafson. Gustafson joined OVERKILL in 1982 and played on the band first four albums — "Feel The Fire" (1985), "Taking Over" (1987), "Under The Influence" (1988) and "The Years Of Decay" (1989) — before being shown the door in 1990 amid growing tension between him and OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni. In a recent interview with Ian Wadley of "Diabolus In Podcastica", Ellsworth was asked if there is a chance Gustafson or founding OVERKILL drummer Lee "Rat Skates" Kundrat ever getting up on stage at an OVERKILL concert and joining the band for a song or two. Blitz responded (hear audio below): "It's not a problem for me. I don't think it'd be a problem with Bobby Gustafson. I don't have a problem with him. He has a problem with me; I don't have a problem with him. But it would have to be the other person being able to say, 'Hey, I'd like to do this.' But I think Rat's taken different life choices at this point. I can't speak for the man, but I don't think this is his thing anymore. But would it be nice to see him? Of course it would." Gustafson recently slammed OVERKILL, telling J-Rocks Metal Zone's "That Metal Interview" that "99 percent" of the first four OVERKILL albums consisted of his "riffs" and his "sound" and his "songs." He explained: "It's my feel. I was the only guitar player, so there was no one else putting in any other influence, and, basically, the job was left up to me, so that's what I did." Ellsworth told Invisible Oranges that OVERKILL's decision to replace Gustafson with two guitarists was primarily due to the fact that the group wanted to do something different. "Bobby left the band, and it wasn't the most amicable circumstances," he explained. "There are different stories about what happened, but I wanted to play with D.D. We started the band and I trusted his ethic and songwriting. We knew if we replaced Bobby with one guitarist, we'd get compared to what we were. So, it seemed like to logical thing to bring in two players. We didn't want anyone to say, 'Bobby was better than this new guy.' And we wanted to perform old stuff with two guitars to keep in fresh. We realized that change isn't a bad thing." OVERKILL's current lineup includes Verni and Ellsworth alongside guitarists Dave Linsk and Derek Tailer, plus the band's latest addition, drummer Jason Bittner. Gustafson is involved in a new band called SATANS TAINT, which released its latest album, "Destruction Ritual", last year.
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