Jason Bittner is moving on. The accomplished musician has announced that he's quitting Overkill, a legendary heavy metal band that he's been the drummer of for the past seven years.
"On August 1, 2024, I played the Vagos Metal Fest in Portugal, and it was the last show I will play in the band Overkill," wrote Bittner in a statement provided exclusively to Metal Injection. "For a while now I have been juggling a few different bands along with Overkill, and I knew at some point something would have to give since I simply can't be three places at once. Over the course of this last year, my schedule has reached that breaking point.
"At this time Shadows Fall is working towards completion of our new material that will take us back out on the road sometime in 2025, as well as our fall shows we have booked for the rest of this year celebrating 20 years of The War Within," he continued.
"Compounded on top of this is my new band, Metal Blade recording artists Category 7 whose album just hit the shelves last month and will start touring soon through 2025. All of this adds up to something having to 'take a break', so as of today I no longer play drums in Overkill so I can concentrate solely on the bands that I am a full member/owner of," Bittner added.
"Now don't worry – they currently have another great drummer already learning the material, and he will be ready to do battle for the upcoming tours. I would like to thank EVERYONE in the Overkill extended family for 7 1/2 years of laughs, killer shows, and fun around the globe," the drummer went on to say.
"All our crew members throughout my run, our agents Dolores Lokas and Mike Monterulo, my tech Animal for always having my back (Shake and Bake), as well as all of our crew past and present, the SKULLKRUSHERS (much love Jurgen), and all the fans who supported my tenure in the band, I love you all, thank you, and will miss you on the European and King Diamond tours... but I'll see you out there with Shadows Fall and Category 7," he concluded.
Overkill was founded in the 1980s, and is widely considered to be among the greatest thrash metals bands of all time. Bittner joined in 2017, playing on two albums: The Wings Of War (2019) and Scorched (2023). Bittner grew to prominence as the drummer for Shadows Fall in the early 2000s, and even earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance with the band in 2006, for their song "What Drives The Weak." As mentioned, his new band is Category 7, and they just dropped their self-titled debut album in July.