Severe Overbite - Severe Overbite (2024)

★★

With all songs originally written in the 1980s, childhood friends Håkan Mårtensson and Jonas Öhlund would join forces in 2022 to begin the recording of their old material. Finished a little over a year later, SEVERE OVERBITE would be officially formed, with all songs recorded and ready to release… and here it is. Usually if your band never got to record anything while young and hungry, that tends to be a sign to throw in the towel, and the story is no different for these guys, especially with a name as ridiculous as SEVERE OVERBITE. It’s not that the songs themselves are even that bad, but I’ve just heard these riffs a million times before and in a more creative fashion – they’re very basic and lack the power I think they were aiming for. To add insult to injury, the vocals really just shoot this release in the foot – they’re weak, out of tune, and sound unconfident. There is a silver lining to this clouded release, however, and it’s the solos. They’re shreddy, melodic, and overall, help add some cohesion to this mess of a record, but you can’t just rely on solos to carry your music forward – especially if the record isn’t fully instrumental. It’s nothing stellar, and to be completely honest, you’d probably be fine skipping over it.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Living in Poverty,” “Ritual of Evil”

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Originally published in April '24 (Issue No. 3)