Overdrive – A Grave Mistake

Overdrive
A Grave Mistake
1989 (no label)
Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

Doug Levy – Lead vocals, harmony vocals, backing vox
Bill Goodwin – Bass guitar, backup vocals
Jimmy Prior – Rhythm guitar, leads, harmony vocals, backing vox
Stacy Puckett – Rhythm guitar, harmony leads, acoustic, keys, baking vox
Bobby Collins – Drums and percussion

Side 1:

1. When the “Saints” Go Marching In
2. Standing in Line

Side 2:

1. Light a Candle for Me
2. You Need a Friend

Overdrive was a progressive power metal band that list Barren Cross, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Deliverance, Metallica, Queensryche, and Anthrax as influences. I don’t really see the Kiss influence, but the others I can see in their mid-80s versions. Of course, they could have also listed bands that also have these influences from that time period as well (Helloween, Fates Warning, Leatherwolf, etc) as better references in my opinion. All of these songs were released on their 2006 compilation CD Remembering the Basher, along with their earlier self-titled demo and demos from when they were known as Damascus and then Sacred Heart. The sound quality is quite good on this demo, and the song writing is almost up to par with the bands they were influenced by (a few rough spots, especially in the song intros, but nothing too bad). The weird thing is that the cassette card is designed and printed in backwards order on the card. I believe that was intentional due to the name of the demo being about a “mistake.” But you never know with these underground demos.