LIK & Mass Worship: Tombs of Misantrophy

Sweden has long been held in high regard as one of the hotbeds of global death metal. With their third full-length, Stockholm’s Lik only add fuel to this fire. “The title of the record Misanthropic Breed, because it describes the world today and the generations that are emerging,” states vocalist/guitarist Tomas Åkvik. “In a way it’s more applicable than ever with the quote ‘It’s every man for himself’ being so suitable, and it’s also a ‘hidden’ homage to both Dismember and Entombed.“

The quartet – rounded out by guitarist Niklas “Nille” Sandin, drummer Chris Barkensjö and bassist Joakim “Myre” Antman – who take their name from the Swedish word for ‘Corpse’, had their work cut out for them following up their career best, 2018′s Carnage. “Carnage is still a record that we are really proud of". They had no specific plan going into the writing sessions for what would become Misanthropic Breed, just to “write new Lik songs with the ambition of kicking the older albums’ asses.”

Antman’s first full-length with Lik and his presence only improved the great ideas the band were coming up with. “The feeling of Misanthropic Breed is that it goes from sometimes very melodic stuff to very dark and eerie landscapes. We still have the ‘Iron Maiden’ feeling but I think it’s a lot darker at times. Sound-wise it’s more brutal but still very clear and you can hear what’s going on almost all the time, and the songs have a more mature feeling and are more straightforward.”

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