If you’ve spent much time on the internet looking at pictures of badass motherfuckers, an activity we surely all do, you’ve probably come across snaps of “The Heavy Metal Cowboys of Botswana” looking like the kings of that particular category. Highlighted in the 2018 documentary Freedom in the Dark, Botswana is home to a tight metal scene that nonetheless forms one of the most dedicated and prominent on the African continent. Right at the fore of that are Overthrust, local legends active since 2008 and one of their few bands to tour in Europe.
Infected by Myth is only their second full-length, and at 23 minutes it’s still a very in-and-out affair. That title though is married to a cover with a robed priest channeling that infection straight into the heads of a zombielike congregation, vultures lurking nearby; in a country with a nearly 80% Christian population, you can see the genuine social rebellion of metal in full force here.
Inspiration comes from the death metal of the UK & Americas, the steady rolling rhythms of Bolt Thrower meeting the more guttural brutal death of the US. Overthrust have evident limitations. As the distorted bass and drums clatter over each other in Fallen Witches, the arrangements are rudimentary, the band repeatedly pulling to a stop to switch tempos. With that rickety, strung-together feel reminiscent of Bestial Devastation-era Sepultura though, it is also free of the cut-and-paste studio sensibility prevalent in much contemporary metal, and you at least here can imagine this is what Overthrust sound like playing live.
That feel benefits Slaves Of Myth, its riffs slimy limbs crawling from some gurgling tar pit. They even then knock out a comparatively jaunty eponymous anthem in Overthrust Deathmental. In an era when slamming bands like 200 Stab Wounds and Sanguisugabogg are more popular than ever, these tunes from the other side of the world can evoke those same sensations.
