(In this writeup TheMadIsraeli provides an enthusiastic recommendation of the new album by the Swedish band LIK, which will be released by Metal Blade Records on September 25th.)
For a good decade now old school Swedish death metal throwback bands have been milking a long beaten-to-death style and aesthetic until it was stripped of the ferocity and angst that gave it have its appeal to begin. Very few of these bands are good. The style has become victimized by a corporatized sort of nostalgia aping. Instead of bands trying to do things with the style that are forward-thinking or… dare I suggest it… trying to write actually captivating songs full of killer riffs, killer melodies, and a powerful unhinged vocal front, a lot of the music just feels really cynical and pandering.
LIK aren’t one of those bands. As a matter of fact, I would tell you that since their debut Mass Funeral Invocation in 2015, they have become one of the very few old school Swedish death metal bands that are worth your time. They have passion, brutality, technicality, drama, and a deep respect for the roots of their sound that so many bands that do this shit just do not have.
There’s no aping of familiar riffing patterns here. If anything they try to borrow from bands that aren’t Swedish and run that through the OSDM blender. The result is a band who have delivered all-killer no-filler brutalitarian buzzsaw auditory blood and guts ron through a grinder with compelling consistency. The only thing that should factor in when it comes to fatigue is whether you’re a fan of the loud and the fast-as-fuck going 125% all the time Swedish ethos.
So here we are at LIK’s third record Misanthropic Breed, and honestly as far as reviewing this particular album, I can’t think of much more to say than what I already have. If you loved 2018‘s Carnage, you’ll love this record. They don’t try anything particularly innovative here as compared to that record, it’s just them doing their thing, creating active, fast, militarily precise riffing and consistently explosive war drums.
I will say though, that another thing this band do very well is they don’t recycle any of their own ideas. I think this stems from the fact that while LIK are Swedish in nationality and in the fundamentals of their sound, they aren’t afraid to incorporate American or South American death metal elements. The result is basically something that’s like peak Bloodbath, Blood Red Throne, and Krisiun all in one band.
Misanthropic Breed kicks ass. There isn’t much more to say. Listen to LIK. Buy Misanthropic Breed.
PRE-ORDER:
https://metalblade.com/lik/
LIK – FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/LIKofficial