Review by Carl on September 18, 2023.

One from the "awesome cover art" file. Just look at that! This cover takes us to the 17th century, where the Devil himself is taking down the belfry of the city of Bruges, while witches are being burned. That is an image so awesome, I just had to have that on my shelf, regardless of what the music would sound like. I am happy to be able to tell you that the gamble has paid off. It's been a while since I heard a good piece of malicious black metal like this.

This EP has the same atmosphere emanating from it as Fimbulwinter's "Servants Of Sorcery" or "F.M." by the Norwegian Raven. Hanghedief deal in unpolished black metal by Scandinavian recipe, with influences of the early works of Burzum, Infernum, Dark Funeral, Enthroned and Graveland. This release combines smatterings of keyboard ambience with tremelo picked guitar, screamed vocals and a very natural sounding production, totally devoid of unnecessary frills. This great mixture is bundled in a handful of atmospheric and varied black metal tracks that combines both barbaric speed and atmospheric ambience to great effect. It's a tried and tested formula, but the band handles these components in such a way that they create something totally their own. At times, there's a folk-y feel to the guitar work that references the true black metal years of Graveland and Infernum, and in combination with the well constructed compositions, Hanghedief manages to establish some memorable moments, even becoming catchy, yet without losing the vicious edge that music like this most certainly needs. Playing is excellent throughout, and this is aided in great part by the earthy and natural production. To the more pretentious ear, this sound may come across as unsophisticated, perhaps even grating, but for those more familiar with the sound and aesthetics of second wave black metal, this sounds nigh on perfect, capturing the spirit of 90's underground black metal perfectly. To close off this excellent EP, we get a great cover of the Ancient Rites (whose early work is felt in Hanghedief's music as well) classic 'Longing For The Ancient Kingdom II', my favorite track of that band right after 'Assyrian Empire'. Hanghedief delivers a bangin' rendition of the song, and even manages to insert a few touches of themselves into it, to great effect. This is the way to close out an already awesome release, if you ask me.

Overduyvelsche Boosheid is an excellent offering of excellent black metal that combines both seething aggression with awesome atmospherics, and knows how to mold this mixture into a set of well-crafted songs, exuding the spirit of the underground greats of 90's black metal. It's not only aimed at the nostalgic old farts (like me) out there, because this EP holds its ground in this day and age just as easily. This is powerful stuff, packaged in gorgeous artwork, with an impressive and certainly interesting historical concept embedded within. This is recommended stuff, for sure.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on June 23, 2019.

If you've never heard about this band, you're not really missing a whole heck of a lot. Allen West (ex-Obituary, Six Feet Under) belts out some Obituary style guitar work. His solos are mediocre, the rhythms are pretty slow and production sound isn't the greatest. Everything was audible but just the music was a disappointment. The tremolo picked guitar riffs totally reflect West's work with Obituary, not so much with Six Feet Under from my knowledge.

This album is pretty boring. The music is just fast picked guitar alongside rhythms that just don't stick in my mind. They really needed a stronger mixing instead of this "raw" sound. I guess that's what they were aiming for was something totally underground. That's where this is at. Slow, heavy/chunky riffs on here but there's nothing special or new about them. They just sound totally like Obituary minus the vocals. The vocal department was different than Obituary's. They're low bellowing throat with not much variation. There really aren't any songs that I liked a whole lot here. Even if you are an Obituary fan like me, Southwicked doesn't do a good job musically/production wise. Nothing special here or innovative. This 4-piece band hasn't the tools to make Death's Crown intrinsically noteworthy or special. Don't expect any rhythms to be really fast on here. They're just slow and tiresome. I think that this album is one that you really have to listen to a lot to actually like it. The lyrical topics fit the music well though. So, do the vocals. Although I'd much rather listen to Obituary if I wanted to hear something totally heavy and brutal. I don't like the production sound. It's flat and you can't really hear the bass guitar. The leads are lousy too. Allen West isn't known for his innovation in that department. To me, it just sounds like he just makes something up on each solo and isn't based on any real influences. It would've been a stronger output if there were only rhythms played here.

I don't want to say buy this album right away. Expect something in the vein of Obituary definitely. Slow rhythm guitar with tremolo picking and power chords galore. I could be wrong, but to me Southwicked needs to become a growing band. Their songwriting needs improvement and overall the songs were just average. That's why I gave the album a "C" rating. I would caution you to pick this up unless you’re a total Obituary/Six Feet Under fan. Then okay!

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on June 23, 2019.

If you've never heard about this band, you're not really missing a whole heck of a lot. Allen West (ex-Obituary, Six Feet Under) belts out some Obituary style guitar work. His solos are mediocre, the rhythms are pretty slow and production sound isn't the greatest. Everything was audible but just the music was a disappointment. The tremolo picked guitar riffs totally reflect West's work with Obituary, not so much with Six Feet Under from my knowledge.

This album is pretty boring. The music is just fast picked guitar alongside rhythms that just don't stick in my mind. They really needed a stronger mixing instead of this "raw" sound. I guess that's what they were aiming for was something totally underground. That's where this is at. Slow, heavy/chunky riffs on here but there's nothing special or new about them. They just sound totally like Obituary minus the vocals. The vocal department was different than Obituary's. They're low bellowing throat with not much variation. There really aren't any songs that I liked a whole lot here. Even if you are an Obituary fan like me, Southwicked doesn't do a good job musically/production wise. Nothing special here or innovative. This 4-piece band hasn't the tools to make Death's Crown intrinsically noteworthy or special. Don't expect any rhythms to be really fast on here. They're just slow and tiresome. I think that this album is one that you really have to listen to a lot to actually like it. The lyrical topics fit the music well though. So, do the vocals. Although I'd much rather listen to Obituary if I wanted to hear something totally heavy and brutal. I don't like the production sound. It's flat and you can't really hear the bass guitar. The leads are lousy too. Allen West isn't known for his innovation in that department. To me, it just sounds like he just makes something up on each solo and isn't based on any real influences. It would've been a stronger output if there were only rhythms played here.

I don't want to say buy this album right away. Expect something in the vein of Obituary definitely. Slow rhythm guitar with tremolo picking and power chords galore. I could be wrong, but to me Southwicked needs to become a growing band. Their songwriting needs improvement and overall the songs were just average. That's why I gave the album a "C" rating. I would caution you to pick this up unless you’re a total Obituary/Six Feet Under fan. Then okay!

Rating: 7 out of 10