In a new interview with Drew Stone of The New York Hardcore Chronicles Live!, OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni was asked why he isn’t touring with the band right now as part of the “Thrash Of The Titans” run of shows with TESTAMENT and DESTRUCTION. He responded: “Ah, well, there’s a few different reasons for that, but I would say probably the main one at this point is that I just need to kind of rest this arm some. And we’re just support on this (tour). This isn’t our tour; this is a TESTAMENT tour. We’re just kind of tagging along. I had another surgery done a little while ago, and just at this point, for something like this, I’m, like, ‘All right, maybe it’s best I just sit this one out.’ So our friend Christian (Olde Wolbers, ex-FEAR FACTORY) is filling in. And it’s just rolling on.”

Elaborating on the physical issues which are preventing him from performing live with OVERKILL at the moment, Verni said: “I had the surgery once, I did all the P.T. (physical therapy). They told me I was good. I went out on the road, and I completely ripped it off again. And I came back and I had to do it all over again. I had rotator cuff and a bicep tear — on both shoulders. It’s just old-guy shit. But now if I blow it off again, if it tears off again, it’s shoulder replacement, and I’m really trying to avoid that. But you know what’s fucked up, though? It’s only playing bass. I can’t play sitting down anymore at all. I can play standing up, but if I sit with my arm kind of locked like that, I can’t play it. I can’t even get through a single song. But I can on a guitar. I don’t know. It’s something about the way I hold the pick and the amount (of weight and pressure) I’m putting on a specific spot. But that’s the way it goes right now. I gotta get strong and get it back to place so I don’t have to fucking worry about that shit anymore.”

Verni went on to confirm that he is still a full-fledged member of OVERKILL. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m writing right now. I have most of the new OVERKILL record done, demoed up, for the most part ready to go. I just did a couple of new things yesterday. I thought it was ready to go. Then I had a couple other things that I wanted to add. So, for the most part it’s all done. I gave it to Blitz (OVERKILL singer Bobby Ellsworth), I guess, a while ago, and he’s been noodling around with it. So over the next — I don’t know — six months or so, probably we’ll jump in the studio somewhere along the way. And I would think we’re probably looking at a release early next year, February, March, something like that. We got a couple of calls about some tours and some things then. So we’ll see.”