2018 has already seen a pretty good slate of old School Swedish death metal from the likes of Gravestone, Angerot, Ripped to Shreds, Demonical and Rogga Johansson’s 176 bands, and here is Metal Blade adding a newish act featuring a few familiar faces to the fray.

Lik  (‘Corpse’) features Niklas Sandin (Katatonia), on guitars, Christofer Barkensjö (Witchery, ex Kaamos, ex- The Resistance, ex Carnal Forge)on drums/vocals and Tomas Åkvik who has helped out Katatonia, The Resistance and Bloodbath live.  So you should have a pretty good idea of the veteran’s sound.

Overall, it most resembles The Resistance, another collaborative band (whose 2013 album Scars is pretty damn solid)  and their more melodic, almost death n roll, thrashier, catchy take on Swedish death metal ( a hint of Wolverine Blues?) with a slightly dirtier, punkier tone and some Dismember hack ‘n’ slice gallops ( just check out “Dr. Duschanka”, which culls heavily from “Bleed For Me” or “Cannibalistic Infancy”). Its ‘funner’ and more rambunctious stuff than some of their peers, even with the expected HM boss guitar tone .

Ripping tracks  like opener “To Kill” (with a sneaky nod to Dismember’s “Overide of the Overture”), “Left to Die” and raging “Only Death is Left Alive” are all good tracks and the guitar tone of course helps, and slower numbers like “The Deranged” and closer “Embrace the End” add a little stench to the proceedings, but there’s nothing here that blows me away or commands my attention like Gravestone’s debut or Demonical’s lastest album.

Lik wont be replacing Entrails as the label’s best example of the genre,  and if I’m being honest, if these guys were not on Metal Blade  and didn’t feature Sandin, much like The Resistance, might not register at all,  but it’s a solid release from some veterans that know what they are doing.

[Visit the band's website]

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