Review by Mladen on August 20, 2023.

In 2004, when Blodulv's second album was originally released, I thought it was charming but wasn't quite sure under what listening circumstances it would give its best. Two years and a nice digipak re-release later, I knew. There are many:

Neighbors wake you up with loud music?

Blodulv.

You want to tell someone to get the fuck out of your room and close the door behind him?

Blodulv.

You want to shatter your eardrums?

Blodulv.

Want to pretend you're a grim necrowinterdemon, even though you're in reality very far from Scandinavia?

Blodulv.

You can even take a scientific approach and look for an album whose frequencies can clean all the undesired vibrations — wait, all vibrations, period — from your living space?

Guess who.

Blodulv ("Blood Wolf" — but the original flows off your tongue so nicely, doesn't it?) were an enigmatic Swedish raw Satanic black metal band, in the finest vein of Darkthrone. Bandmembers were ever-changing and unidentifiable — all I knew about II is that the music was written by Grendel, the lyrics by Aeifur and vocals were done by Nekro. The honorable Mr. Maachinaa was actually an affectionately named drum machine. Who did the rest is unknown, probably because of Blodulv's boasting of "blatantly using certain substances while recording."

The music itself? Arrogant is the word here. The guitar sound is unbelievable — raw, loud and electric, it's the sound of a chainsaw sawing through glass. And if you've ever tried to come up with a simple, true, grim riff — Blodulv put all your efforts to shame. Some riffs are so good yet so simple that it's hard to believe that someone has not thought of them before (personal favorite being the opening one of 'Tyrant').

Add the aforementioned arrogance and you will get a freezing atmosphere with unstoppable gusts of ice shards coming at you. The mid-paced drum beats are elegantly simple and unobtrusive — just as much changes as are necessary, with occasional unexpected crashes and fast bass drum parts (Drum machines don't have two legs but how else do you call double bass drumming?).

The song composition is very much in the "Transilvanian Hunger" style — start with a simple riff, change, work on that, more change and a triumphant return to the initial riff, and it works perfectly and mercilessly. Nekro's thoughtfully displaced (sorry, demented) screams were sharp, full, vicious and distorted, strong enough to turn the music from simple and hypnotic to evil and exciting.

So, feeling necro and needing something to hold in your sweaty hands while dribbling "my preciousss..." repeatedly?

Blodulv.

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

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