Album Review: DD Verni - Dreadful Company
Reviewed by Lana Teramae
D.D. Verni is best known for his work with American thrash metal band Overkill, but for his second solo album, ‘Dreadful Company’ (2024), he dives into his punk rock roots, even more so than on his first solo album, ‘Barricade’ (2018). Simplistically speaking, the material on ‘Dreadful Company’ resembles more Green Day than Overkill. In some ways, Verni sounds like Billie Joe Armstrong. Besides being Verni’s solo album, the only other connection to Overkill is that the band’s current drummer, Jason Bittner, plays on it. Like ‘Barricade,’ Verni wrote all the songs, sang lead vocals, and played guitar and bass for ‘Dreadful Company.’ It also features guest musicians such as Charlie Benante, Virus, Michael Romeo, and Charlie Calv.
Might be a shock at first listen, but once getting past the name, the music is pretty dang good. It’s modern day punk rock with excellent musicianship. The album was produced and engineered by Verni himself, and mixed and mastered by Chris “Zeuss” Harris.
‘Dreadful Company’ kicks off with the album’s first single, “Lunkhead,” which features a guitar solo from Benante. Is it offensive to call someone a lunkhead? Yes, but it’s a banging tune that kicks butt. “Cemetery Safari” is not as gloomy as the song title suggests. It’s practically the opposite; such a fun song. “All You Need to Know” has a great bass line, and it’s catchy and melodic. “Wild Horses” has a killer guitar riff with heavy distortion, and it’s got that driving down the highway on a motorcycle vibe.
“Thanks for the Memories” is another melodic and catchy tune, with excellent guitar work from Verni. It’s upbeat, energetic, and the perfect song to play at a college rave. “Call of the Highway” is the album’s grand, epic tune. It starts off in typical punk rock fashion with a juicy bass line, but takes a dramatic and powerful turn at the halfway mark. “Tears on My Heart” is an odd track that somewhat doesn’t fit on ‘Dreadful Company,’ yet it works well. It’s a mid-tempo rocker with a lot of melody and pop elements. Even the lyrical content differs from the rest of the album, but who cares.
As mentioned before, if listeners can get past the name and the Overkill thing, they might really enjoy ‘Dreadful Company.’ The album comes out on July 26, 2024 through M-Theory Audio.
