You could say that Stockholm death metallers LIK are relatively new to the Swedish death metal scene. With only one prior full length album and a split release under their belt, the year of 2017 has been their busiest year to date. LIK have certainly made their mark on European festival rosters, playing the likes of Finland’s Tuska Open Air, MetalDays in Slovenia and Gefle Metal Festival in their home country of Sweden.
May 4th, 2018 marked the release of LIK’s 2nd full length album, Carnage. Comprising of members of Katatonia, Witchery and Nale, LIK have created a straight-up old school death metal number filled with groove, energy and hard-hitting riffs. The band have chosen to stick with similar lyrical themes to that of their debut album, Mass Funeral Evocation. With lyrics describing the darkest details of death, horror, blood and gore, LIK have not held back on embracing these themes throughout Carnage. After all, the word LIK does in fact translate to “corpse” in Swedish.
Coming in at 36 minutes in length, Carnage is the perfect length for a death metal album. LIK have guaranteed that each track smacks you right in the face, in the best possible way. As we delve further into the contents of this record, a clear standout element is most certainly the enthralling guitar work of Tomas Åkvik and Niklas “Nille” Sandin. From the opening riff of the starting track “To Kill”, the listener is instantly plunged into a fast paced, hard hitting groove which sets a precedence for what is to come. Following on next is “Rid You Of Your Flesh”, which already seems to be a fan favourite upon its release. It encapsulates everything a fan wants to hear in a death metal classic. Riffs, solos and more riffage. Coming in at track #8, “The Deranged” takes the album down a notch to a slower, yet groovier tempo. What LIK do extremely well is the ability to explore different tempos throughout their songs, whilst still maintaining a groovy, heavy as f*** death metal vibe.
I would highly recommend this album to any fan of Swedish death metal. Carnage sure pays homage to that of their Swedish death metal ancestors of the early 1990s, whilst embedding a twist of LIK’s own style to ensure that the album is relevant and appealing to 2018. I can guarantee that this album will allow fans to scream, headbang and dance until their heart’s content.
