{"id":103272,"date":"2024-04-08T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T23:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=103272"},"modified":"2024-05-24T13:45:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T12:45:43","slug":"album-review-severe-overbite-severe-overbite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-severe-overbite-severe-overbite\/","title":{"rendered":"SEVERE OVERBITE – Severe Overbite (2024) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEVERE OVERBITE
Severe Overbite<\/strong><\/span>
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\nSelf-released (2024)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Have you seen the cover of this? It looks like an early to mid 80s Swedish throwback; all warriors, swords and icy mountains. Interestingly, the musicians behind this debut full-length record are Swedish duo H\u00e5kan M\u00e5rtensson (vocals) and Jonas \u00d6hlund (guitar, bass and keyboards), but what really drew me to this album was the fact that the songs provided were written in the early 80s when the pair were teenagers playing together in local bands Rebellion, Bird Of Prey and Grime Crime.<\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed on my initial spin was how British this opus sounds, driving towards a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal vibe. Secondly, this album isn\u2019t as metal as it looks, the twosome crafting a rather fluid yet at times smooth, stark hard rock platter which just cannot help but waft with doomy vapours.<\/p>\n

This is a reasonably concise outing at 33 minutes, the band opting for a clear sound and vocal display that thankfully hasn\u2019t been glossed over with modern techniques, although there is a definite lack of power. However, everything about this album reeks of \u201ccult gem\u201d as opening foray \u2018Another World\u2019 strides nicely like some long lost NWOBHM single just discovered in the dusty vaults, and I\u2019m left wondering just what could have been.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t Turn Away\u2019 is a big favourite of mine and one of the albums heaviest moments as the stony bass merges with a simple yet effective riff. The track rarely deviates from its plod but it\u2019s catchy and somewhat charming in his antique doominess. \u201cThe frozen white wasteland where I feel alive,\u201d<\/em> are the first words uttered by M\u00e5rtensson on \u2018The Mountain\u2019, a slightly hastier example of hard rock as the duo gallops albeit rather tepidly, and it is the word \u201ctepid\u201d that springs to mind on a few of the tracks present. I can\u2019t help but imagine a punchier vocal coupled with better production and just a heavier bass and drum tone.<\/p>\n

A song like \u2018Devils Nest\u2019 would be an absolute colossus if a few tweaks were made, but as it stands this album still feels like an early to mid 80s import that was played, produced and mixed half-heartedly. Even so, \u2018Ritual Of Evil\u2019 has a sense of the epic in its restrained power metal route, while \u2018Living In Poverty\u2019 has more of a traditional metal style. Yes, this is a strange slice of European heavy metal history and it\u2019s one that you can\u2019t help but fall for, even if its chainmail is a tad flimsy.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEVERE OVERBITESevere Overbite Self-released (2024)Rating: 7\/10 Have you seen the cover of this? It looks like an early to mid 80s Swedish throwback; all warriors, swords and icy mountains. Interestingly, the musicians behind this debut full-length record are Swedish duo H\u00e5kan M\u00e5rtensson (vocals) and Jonas \u00d6hlund (guitar, bass and keyboards), but what really drew me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5693],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-severe-overbite"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103279,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103272\/revisions\/103279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}