
Lik is a death metal band from Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden consisting of guitarist/bassist Niklas Sandin, guitarist/vocalist Tomas Åkvik, drummer/vocalist Christofer Barkensjö & bassist Joakim Antman. Following their full-length debut Mass Funeral Evocation, they would sign with Metal Blade Records furthering the acclaim in the form of both Carnage & Misanthropic Breed respectively. 5 years later, the band’s getting back together to put out their 4th full-length studio LP.
“Deceased” is this death metal intro feeling like the living dead waking up whereas “War Praise”homages the style of bands like Dismember taking us through the horrors of conflict. “They” paints the image of demon’s spawn who wait, watch, hunt & kill addicted to the taste or flesh prior to “Worms Inside” turning up the tempo a bit assuring the torturing nightmare is real & slowly becoming numb.
The 2nd single “Morgue Rat” crosses over standard death metal with elements of melodic death metal singing about their funeral obsession forever feed the band’s carnal lust just before “Shred into Pieces” kinda goes for a grindcore vibe abiding by the sickness. “In Ruins” easily sticks out the slowest track here talking about now being the time to die while “The Stockholm Massacre” takes inspiration from the Stockholm Bloodbath that occurred centuries ago.
“Fields of Death” pushes further towards the final moments of Necro throwing it back to the days of Mass Funeral Evocation explaining that the meadows of demise are eternally endless reigning chaos & awaiting their turn to perish, but then “Rotten Inferno” closes the LP showing Lik’s appreciation for Autopsy’s groundbreaking sophomore effort Mental Funeral talking about living solely to feel the pain of others suffering.
Gloriously returning to action standing loud & proud over so many imitators, Necro is the musical equivalent of a classic shock-horror movie that’s drenched in blood & gore packed with over-the-top extremities. On the other hand: It could most likely be the weakest of the 4 albums Lik has put out despite it’s bigger number of highs & lows primarily due to the meat & potatoes presentation of both death metal & melodic death metal.
Score: 3.5/5
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