REVIEW: SEVERE OVERBITE “SEVERE OVERBITE”

Doing album reviews is a luxury. The way we consume music these days allows us to access an endless universe of old and new bands, albums, and singles. Having all of that so cheaply and readily available makes it extremely easy to skip to the next song or even to the next artist if something doesn’t click right away. The opportunity to review an album gives me the chance—and the luxury—to actually sit, listen, and pay attention to details. It’s even better when you are not picking what you are going to review, so you can remove all the bias from the exercise.

The next level of privilege—and I know this isn’t great for business—is that I really need to take my time. Some people can write an album review after a couple of listens; I need a couple of weeks. If I review too early and it’s something I like right away, I’ll probably write an overly excited post and claim it’s the album of the year, which rarely holds up after a month or two of listenings. The opposite happens if it’s something I don’t like right away; I’ll think it’s not good and may never revisit that band again.

This long intro is to say that I did not get Severe Overbite right away. I have a lot of thoughts about the production and the vocals. However, destiny “forced” me to take a little longer than planned to put my thoughts together on this debut, and I’m glad it did. Follow me here, if you dare.

Here is a release with a bunch of intriguing features. First of all, the name of the band and the album is ‘Severe Overbite’. I can’t decide if this is the least or the most metal name ever, so I would love to know the story behind it. It’s probably a bit tongue-in-cheek, and I can picture two teenagers naming their band after a weird picture in a science textbook. At the same time, it sounds kind of menacing, doesn’t it?

Over 40 years ago, two kids in Sweden were trying to break into the growing metal scene of the early ’80s, with the NWOBHM and acts like Sabbath, Heavy Load, and Scorpions as their stepping stones. There’s nothing necessarily unique about that, but these songs, written between ’82 and ’85, have been kept away from us, lost in time, until now.

Fast-forward to 2024, Håkan Mårtensson and Jonas Öhlund—no longer kids—decided to get together again, record eight of the best tunes from their golden years, and release them digitally. Now, you can find it all on your least-hated streaming platforms.

Both the songwriting and production transport you right back to the good OWOTHM days (Old Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal—quote me if you want to use that definition elsewhere… ha!). And the album cover upgrades you to First Class! Designed by Frank Öhlund (I assume he’s related to Jonas, but I’m not really sure), it moves away from the exhausted black background with old school frames, chains, and grunge textured artworks. That’s Heavy Load, Dust, Manilla Road kinda stuff! I really like the direction the band took here—the colours are cool, the northern lights in the background, the Viking, the gradient on the logo… BAM! It’s 1979!

‘Severe Overbite’ was self-released on April 8, featuring eight tracks and a total runtime of 33 minutes, which I think is perfect for what it aims to be. Despite the album grouping songs from different projects Håkan and Jonas had growing up, such as Rebellion, Bird of Prey, and Grime Crime, it sounds remarkably consistent as a whole. For extra context, Håkan is responsible for all the vocals, while Jonas handled the guitars, bass, keys, and fully produced the record, including mixing and mastering. The duo signs all the songs, except for ‘Ritual of Evil’, which was co-written with Anders Stenermark.

The album opens with the drums kicking ass and taking names! Right after the intro, though, I must confess the drums and the bass put me off a bit. They are a little too loud, and there isn’t much going on, taking some attention away from the gold here, which are the guitar riffs and vocal melodies. I also feel the vocals sound a bit dry and could be heavily improved with some extra harmonies and a better mix. These aspects are recurrent throughout the album, but if you can get past that, you are in for some great songs, top-notch guitars and a collection of catchy choruses.

‘Another World’ is a strong track, and if it had received the right exposure back in the day, it could’ve been a Swedish classic of the NWOBHM. The guitars are both direct and well thought out: a classic intro riff that transitions into a variation for the verse, then adds a guitar harmony for the bridge to leads us to one of the best choruses on the album. This track is also a good example of how some vocal work could improve this record. When Håkan starts singing the chorus, it’s great. When the vocal harmony comes in, he wins the game. After listening to the album for a couple of weeks, this one is imprinted in my mind and added to my personal playlists. I would love to see the band play this one live, and I can definitely see the crowd singing along. A classic!

The mid-tempo ‘Don’t Turn Away’ starts off very ‘Heaven and Hell’-ish, but that changes as soon as Jonas comes in with such a good riff! And then it changes again when Håkan enters because that was definitely not the kind of vocal melody I was expecting. If I mentioned that there are recurrent improvement points throughout the album, I must also say that great riffs and good vocal melodies are everywhere. Another memorable chorus, and the transition to the solo is awesome.

The pace picks up again with ‘The Mountain’. Mean guitars, double kicks, and great vocal lines. What was I thinking? This album is great! I love the second guitar that keeps chugging in the background during the verses, the leads in the bridges… And once more, I keep repeating myself like an idiot, but great chorus! There is something here that I need to point out as one of my favourite moments on ‘Severe Overbite’: what are you guys doing around 2:15? Pure Mercyful Fate! You won me over with this part. Stinky Face Award to this riff, and if that wasn’t enough, the solo doesn’t fall much behind. Kudos to Jonas!

‘The Mountain’ is the only song that was unfinished from the ’80s sessions and was completed in 2023 for the release of ‘Severe Overbite’. You can find a lyric video for it available on YouTube at the link below:

‘Fight of the Knight’ is another well-structured tune and definitely an anthem to be played live. I feel this one has the potential to be a lot more powerful, especially the gang vocals in the chorus, but that’s more a production aspect. There are a lot of remarkable things creatively speaking. The part in the middle is pretty interesting and it offers a different vibe from what we’ve been listening to so far. This is also possibly my favourite guitar solo in the album.

‘Solar Eclipse’ is a gem! This is possibly the one song I think may not fit as well with the rest of the album, but it is my favourite by far. It reminds me a lot of acts like Eloy and Captain Beyond. It has a 70s prog vibe, which makes everything about this song just right. This is the perfect voice, the perfect intonation, the perfect production, because this song feels like it was recorded in the ’70s, where it belongs. And I love the last time Håkan sings “…the sun is turning black”.

At first, ‘Devil’s Nest’ didn’t stand out to me as much as the others, but these guys seem to have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Halfway through the song, we are treated to a hypnotic riff tastefully juxtaposed with keys and there guitar theme. This is definitely another favourite moment in the album. By the way, writing straightforward riffs that work is an art in itself.

This may not make a lot of sense, but ‘Living in Poverty’ sounds to me like Dokken, Judas Priest from the Screaming for Vengeance era, and Saga got together to write a ’70s hard rock song—it does sound a little more hard rock than the others. I feel like this could be Severe Overbite’s staple song, the one the crowd is waiting for during the encore. Their ‘Working Man’. I love the guitars around 1:45, and I can see the band playing an extended version of that at the end of the song, closing a sold-out concert in a poorly lit arena in Halifax, Canada, in 1987. Another classic!

The album closes as strong as it started, with the atmospheric and doomy ‘Ritual of Evil’. At this point, I am sold on Håkan’s vocals and quite surprised that, as a guitar player and Metal lover, I haven’t heard of Jonas Öhlund before. Some of the best riffs in the album, well-placed keys, and catchy choruses is what you will find here. A highlight is when the intro riff comes back later in the song. A great pick to end the record and another favourite of mine in the short but solid Severe Overbite catalog

CONCLUSION

Some people are calling this a cult gem, and I can see why. I initially struggled with some aspects of the production, and I think ‘Severe Overbite’ could benefit greatly from some work in this realm. Håkan’s vocals had me undecided for a while, but he has character, and I believe a better mix and some vocal harmonies could significantly improve his performance. But all in all, this is a very solid record. There is not a single bad song here, and there are so many great ideas! The riffs and melodies confirm that these guys are not below anyone else from the scene they came from.

In addition to that, they wrote these songs over 40 years ago when they were teenagers, and finally putting them “on tape” together after so many years is probably very emotional and cathartic. And romantic, I must say. If I were one of them, I would never want to put this album out without the other. So even though the selfish in me wants to say the Overbiters should remix this album eventually or that some vocal work could be done, maybe I am wrong and there is no better singer for these songs than Håkan, and the production is exactly what it is supposed to be. Maybe that’s how they stand out.

‘Severe Overbite’ has an innocence that only exists when we are young enough, when we are starting our first bands. Yet, it is inspired, mature, and hooky (try to write good hooks and you will see how hard that is—now try again being 12 years old). These eight tracks seem to be forged by friendship and dreams. With that in mind—and maybe I am making this all up and being the romantic here—my take on this debut is completely different from when I first played ‘Another World’. So I hope you guys are happy and proud for putting this album out. What I can say is that I am happy.

Long live Severe Overbite!