Review: Severe OVerbite “Evil Minds”
Release date: 17 April 2026
Label: Independent
3–4 minutesGage J. Tolin
Swedish duo Severe Overbite returns stronger and heavier with a four track EP “Evil Minds” set for release April 17 2026. The EP is a major step forward for the band delivering a more mature and powerful sound than the 2024 debut album. The songs show a more mature side of the band with power, heavy riffs and catchy melodies still with the NWOBH influence. The album was filled with songs written in the 80’s and the EP contains an old song as well. The heaviest song , Deep Cut, was first
demoed 40 years ago in February 1986. Lyrically the EP explores war, love from a distance and that you should seize the day.
LINE-UP:
Håkan Mårtensson- Vocals
Jonas Öhlund: Guitar, bass and keyboard
Review
“Evil Minds” featured an incredibly bass forward approach to its production that I deeply appreciated, it gave the track a very satisfying ‘chugging’ quality. The Iron Maiden influence instrumentally speaking was pretty strong, but more geared toward the “Flight of Icarus” side of things. Håkan’s vocals sound both raw and polished at the same time, and there’s a maturity and methodical nature in the way he delivers each lyric. To build on that maturity, the band is an almost entirely two-man project, with the pair handling all mixing, production, and songwriting, themselves. That DIY ethos and no frills sort of stance is what heavy metal is all about.
“Walk Your Own Way” had a nice Sabbath-like bend to kick off before the main riff let loose into a nice groove. While the tempo remains at the same chugging as the prior track, it didn’t feel repetitious in the slightest. Once more, Håkan’s vocals are delivered in a way that is only moderately different from the opener, but just enough to give this one some extra juice. On top of that, I found the self-reflective and empowering nature of the lyrics to be a serious bright spot for the song.
“Deep Cut”, the one the promo lauded as ‘the heaviest’ song opened up with a hell of a riff to back up that claim. Jonas is letting loose some insanely grooving basslines. Vocally, Håkan reminded me a lot of golden age Saxon here, as did this whole song in fact. While in comparison to their other work, the lyrics here can seem a bit barebones (after all they wrote it 40 years ago!), I think that gives the track a sort of retro-adjacent charm.
“Roll With the Punches” had an ever so slightly more upbeat tempo that the rest of EP, but not enough that I could or would call it ‘speedy’. While I did love the overall melody of the chorus, and the delivery therein, I couldn’t help but feel that the song needed an extra bit of something to really polish it off. It’s an earworm of a chorus, and the groove of the song has a nice amount of headbanging quality behind it, but something felt missing here. Not sure what it is though.
Conclusion
Severe Overbite’s latest EP shows that their debut album wasn’t just a flash in the pan, and that the Swedish duo has a bit more left in their tanks. While it doesn’t break new ground or shatter the sky, it isn’t trying to, this is two dudes just playing rock n roll for the sake of rock n roll, and that should always be commended. As a sucker for DIY projects, I say “hats off!” to Severe Overbite for putting out another solid release.
TheNwothm Score: 8/10
Links
Bandcamp: https://severeoverbite.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/SevereOverbite
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/severeoverbite/
Label: Independent
Read More Reviews
#EP #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #NewAlbum #NewWaveOfTraditionalHeavyMetal #nwobhm #NWOTHM #Review #saxon #SevereOverbite #supportIndependentBands #SwedishHeavyMetal #thenwothm #thenwothmCom #unsignedBand
