Album Review: Satanic Overdrive – Self Titled

Sweden’s Satanic Overdrive are an occult punk rock ‘n roll band straight outta Gothenburg, the band’s self titled debut album is now available via all good streaming sites through Lucifer Productions, so it seems like there is an emerging theme here, one that is being reclaimed from the clutches of hordes of Scandinavian black metal bands and channelled back into rock ‘n roll. I have no idea what to expect from Satanic Overdrive, the album arrived with only the briefest description and the message “throw horns, dance and hail Satan”, so I’m going to find out if the Devil really does have all the best tunes.

The options are many for what a band called Satanic Overdrive could sound like; Slayer, Venom, the Misfits, I could go on. However, what I didn’t expect to open the self titled debut album was the jaunty southern baptist folk punk affair that is ‘Hail Satan‘. However, the album’s, and the band’s, title track puts us into more familiar territory, heavyweight horror punk rock with a chorus straight out The Misfits late 90’s playbook. From here the majority of album veers been punk rock and rock, with both styles gleefully delivered with the same occult overtones, but that is by no means the end of the story as curveballs are randomly thrown into the mix. The classical interlude of ‘Edgar Elzers Experiment‘ is probably the most unexpected moment, although ‘Black Desert Rose Part 1‘ comes a close second, a track that brings to mind the chest thumping mantra from Wolf Of Wall Street performed by Nick Cave.

The world’s of rock, metal and punk rock are no strangers to occult themes, along with the occasional moral panic from the religious right, and Satanic Overdrive debut album is one that will sit equally happily in collections on either side of the fence. At times straight up rawk, at others aggressive horror punk, and even veering into rock ‘n roll with the album’s final, and finest, track ‘Black Desert Rose Part 2‘. This is a promising debut full length from the Swedish outfit, one that proves that the Devil does not necessarily have all of the best tunes, but it’s undeniable that there are some of them on Satanic Overdrive‘s debut album.

Satanic Overdrive‘s debut album can be streamed via Spotify here