LIK, the modern-day purveyors of classic Swedish death metal, gloriously return to action with their fourth album, Necro, on April 18th via Metal Blade Records.
Standing loud and proud over so many imitators, Necro is the musical equivalent of a classic shock-horror movie that’s drenched in blood and gore and packed with over-the-top extremities. Delve beyond the zombified cover art created by Stockholm-based tattooist and artist Jens Olsson (Ink Fanatics), Necro serves as a reminder of just how special and exciting the genre is: packed with blood-curdling fantasy stories about war, death, zombies, world apocalypse, and murder all stacked with disgustingly-good rotten riffs.
After recording and releasing their critically acclaimed third full-length, 2020’s Misanthropic Breed, during the pandemic, this time around getting back into the studio properly was paramount. And while Misanthropic Breed was recorded at the quartet’s rehearsal space where the band produced all their demos, LIK recorded Necro at NBS Studio (AKA Necromorbus Studio) in Söderfors, two hours from their home city.
Once again using uber-producer Lawrence Mackrory (MESHUGGAH, KATATONIA, HIGH PARASITE, DECAPITATED), all music was recorded live over a three-day period, before vocalist/guitarist Tomas Åkvik headed to Uppsala to record his vocals at Mackrory’s Rorysound Studios. Mackrory has worked with LIK – whose name translates to “corpse” in Swedish – since their 2015 debut Mass Funeral Evocation and throughout their Metal Blade Records’ career that started with 2018’s Carnage.
Within Necro’s ten tracks, LIK has created a seamless album, diverse in tempo but without losing any of their blood-soaked intensity and relentless in-your-face-attitude listeners have come to expect. There are twists and turns that keep LIK on a progressive path without straying from their old-school trademark sounds inspired by the godfathers DISMEMBER, AT THE GATES and, of course, ENTOMBED.
“We didn’t really want to repeat ourselves, but of course we wanted the LIK sound,” explains Åkvik on the writing trajectory of Necro.”
In advance of the record’s release, LINK unleashes first single, “War Praise.” Åkvik elaborates, “We had to write this track before we could even start working on the new album. A LIK track that felt just like LIK but with enough new stuff to make it interesting for us. Sadly enough the world is still plagued by wars so we had to write about the horrors of it.”
Necro, which features guest appearances by Nick Holmes (PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH), Linnea Landstedt (TYRANEX/ICE AGE), and Lawrence Mackrory (F.K.Ü.), will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants.
Necro track listing:
1. Deceased
2. War Praise
3. They
4. Worms Inside
5. Morgue Rat
6. Shred into Pieces
7. In Ruins
8. The Stockholm Massacre
9. Fields of Death
10. Rotten Inferno
Source: metaladdicts.com
