### Southwicked: Death's crown

#### 12/09/12 || Pr0nogo

In a stunning turn of events that surprised absolutely nobody, ex-Obituary guitarist Allen West (no, not that West) went off to found a band that reminds listeners of – you guessed it – Obituary. Evidently, our good buddy Allen has also been in Six Feet Under, but nobody cares about that band. The most you can expect from death metal five-piece Southwicked is fast-paced tremolo riffs that sound like any Obituary song, except they have a general lack of musicianship to accompany them. Their predecessor may not have been the best, but they sounded a whole lot better than “Death’s crown” does. It can’t even rely on average production, heaviness, good transitions, moments that make you want to headbang, etc. to incite a reaction from you; Southwicked really is one of those bands that leaves you staring blankly at the radio/computer/whatever until the music stops or you turn it off out of sheer boredom. There’s some solid American effort, and a great show of dramatic tension with the album opener’s cheesy direct-to-DVD style (also very American), but there’s honestly just not a lot to talk about despite the album’s running time of nearly forty minutes. Dribble dribble, drivel drivel – just like my writing, no? Sometimes it catches you off-guard with some technically-proficient riffing or structuring, but after a few seconds you realise it’s gone back to basic. Again. That’s not what anyone wants out of their music.

5.5/10: Unless you’re a fan of Korn.