The glorious buzzsaw guitars that rip forth in the opening riff of album opener, “To Kill,” immediately bring to mind all of those sentimental, warm and fuzzy feelings you had jamming to DISMEMBER and ENTOMBED back in the day.  And it’s no coincidence that LIK (“corpse” in Swedish) are from Stockholm, Sweden.

On their second album, Carnage, LIK easily establish themselves as a true force to be reckoned with.  Like the instant classic that it is, the ten songs are consistently infectious and memorable.  Each successive listen will make you realize that this is one of the best death metal albums to come out in years.

The best part of Carnage is the instantaneous enjoyment that it brings.  It’s not a rehash or a ripoff of the legends but simultaneously a great homage and continuation of the Stockholm Swedish death metal legacy.

It should noted that the production, courtesy of Lawrence Mackrory (DARKANE, F.K.Ü) at Dugout Studios, is a thing of beauty.  The Boss Metal Zone guitar/bass tons are thick and ripping while the drums are natural and powerful in the mix.  Everything literally sounds loud (in a good way) without being abrasive.

While extreme metal vocalists can often blur into each other, Tomas Åkvik (vocals, guitar) has the deep roar but also the clear enunciation that David Vincent is famous for.

I know upon first listen, you may think LIK is merely a DISMEMBER-worship band but with successive listens, you’ll find that there is more that distinguishes them from their main influence.  (Metal Blade Records)