Swedish Metal is the unsung hero of the Metal genre. Rarely do you see so many game changing extreme Metal bands arise from one area as you do with Sweden. You have pioneers of various forms of Death Metal like Entombed, At The Gates and Dark Tranquility who all contributed massively to the genre by contributing buzz saw guitar tones and melody mixed with insanely heavy riffs. Fast forward to today and you still have a healthy amount of bands emerging from the area! One of the most notable would be LIK who have just released a new album that is a worthy successor to bands like Dismember, Entombed and Bloodbath!
Right off the bat you know that LIK are the real deal, as they have the HM-2 sound which has become essential to Death Metal! Tracks such as “To Kill“, “Death Cult” and “Embrace the End” are all reminiscent of ‘CARCASS‘ during the ‘Heartwork‘ era which is to say that these songs are all balls to the walls heavy but still manage to retain a strong sense of melody! While HM-2 worship seems to be in full effect as of late, LIK manages to set themselves apart from the other newer bands of this style by having insanely catchy hooks which are featured throughout the album! Songs like “Celebration of the Twisted” and “Only Death is Left Alive” are so memorable because of the musicianship involved that you will be banging your head from beginning to end! “Carnage” by LIK is a quick listen at under 40 minutes, but it is an essential piece of modern Death Metal History that will certainly go down as a classic in due time!
Tomas Åkvik – vocals & guitars
Niklas “Nille” Sandin – guitars & bass
