Photo by Michaela Barkensjö
Watch/stream LIK’s “Morgue Rat” HERE.
“Morgue Rat” is the latest single from Swedish death metal behemoths, LIK. The track, which features guest vocals by Linnea Landstedt (Tyranex, Ice Age), appears on the band’s impending fourth full-length album, Necro, set for release on April 18th via Metal Blade Records.
Comments vocalist/guitarist Tomas Åkvik, “The crushing ‘Morgue Rat,’ a song partly inspired by infamous Californian necrophiliac Karen Greenlee, features the demonic vocal talents of Linnea Landstedt. It’s a heavy, groovy song about a mortician who can’t keep her fingers away from the dead. It’s also our first track ever with clean-ish guitars.”
Watch LIK’s “Morgue Rat” video HERE.
Watch LIK’s previously released video for “War Praise” HERE.
Within Necro’s ten tracks, LIK – whose name translates to “corpse” in Swedish – 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.
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), LIK’s 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.
Necro was recorded at NBS Studio (AKA Necromorbus Studio) in Söderfors, two hours from the band’s 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 Åkvik headed to Uppsala to record his vocals at Mackrory’s Rorysound Studios. Mackrory has worked with LIK since their 2015 debut Mass Funeral Evocation and throughout their Metal Blade Records’ career that started with 2018’s Carnage. It’s clear upon first listen that with Necro, the quartet have produced some of the best work of their decade-plus long career.
In addition to Linnea Landstedt, Necro features guest appearances by Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost, Bloodbath), and Lawrence Mackrory (F.K.Ü.). The record will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
180g Black
Tombstone Grey Blue Marbled
Dark Sky Red Marbled (Ltd. 500)
Clear Violet Blue Marbled (Ltd. 300)
Lilac/Blood Red Splatter (Ltd. 300)
Lilac Blackdust (Ltd. 200) * Sold Out *
Violet Purple Splatter (Ltd. 200)
Coffin Purple Black Splatter (Ltd. 300)
Find preorders at metalblade.com/lik.
LIK Live:
5/23/2025 Maryland Deathfest – Baltimore, MD
5/28/2025 Kulturhuset – Stockholm, SE *Necro Release Show*
6/14/2025 Czech Deathfest – Cerveny Kostelec, CZ
7/02/2025 Rockmaraton Festival – Dunaújváros, HU
8/07/2025 Rock The Park 2025 @ Parksnäckan — Uppsala, SE w/ The Black Dahlia Murder
8/15/2025 Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbühl, DE
8/30/2025 Malmö Massacre – Malmö, SE
9/26/2025 Legend Metalfest – Trondheim, NO
10/24–25/2025 Odense Metalfest – Odense, DK
“This album is fucking crushing! Everything else is shit!” – Nick Holmes, Paradise Lost/Bloodbath
“Vicious and raw, sick and heavy, perfect embodiment of the brutality of classic Swedish death metal.” – Matti Kärki, Dismember
“This is non-processed death metal magic, just like it was meant to be. It brings me right back to the school bus in the ‘90s, where it seemed I discovered a new killer band from Stockholm every week in my Walkman, on my way to school. It often made me want to stand up and bang my head off while in motion and rip the bus seats to shreds. Yet LIK fills a void in today’s death metal scene and sound surprisingly refreshing. This time around, aside from the speed, they also bring extra sludgy heaviness to the necro table. An absolute must have!” – Björn “Speed” Strid, Soilwork
“I got to hear the new album Necro from my friends in LIK and what a ferocious onslaught I was presented with! Relentless pounding á la Stockholm City with the perfect nods to the heydays of death metal!” – Jonas Renkse, Katatonia
“The essence of Swedish death metal – LIK at their finest! Necro sets the genre’s benchmark for 2025 with killer hook lines, cutting leads, and riffs straight outta hell!” – Ben Liepelt, Endseeker
LIK:
Tomas Åkvik – vocals, guitar
Niklas “Nille” Sandin – guitar
Chris Barkensjö – drums
Joakim Antman – bass
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