Swedish death metal super group Lik (‘corpse’) has been churning out solid Dismember meets Wolverine Blues area Entombed since 2015s, Mass Funeral Evocation and 2018 Carnage. But despite a lineup that features folks from Katatonia, The Resistance, Face Down, Kaamos and such, I feel like they never took that jump into Entrails levels of genre dominance- always residing in that ‘solidly enjoyable’ area.

And that doesn’t really change for the album number three, Necro, which took 7 years to kick out. It’s a fine, fun slab of death n roll-ish Swedish death metal with more than enough nods to the genre’s originators and their peers doing the same thing (Entrails, Carnal Savagery, Demonical, Gravestone, etc), but never quite takes that next step into something a little more special.

Now, I know that we aren’t listening to this style of album for game-changing material or soul-awakening brilliance; we want the HM2 guitar tone, and we want lots of it. Luckily, Necro has that in spades and, as with prior albums, wraps up songs that cull palpably from Dismember and Wolverine Blues in its warm, fuzzing, buzzing hues satisfyingly. And even a few riffs here and there that literally pay not-so-subtle homage to some of the classics (standouts “Fields of Death” and “In Ruin” and “War Praise”).

There’s plenty to like here. The above 2 songs certainly stand out, but the likes of opener “Deceased” or “They” (which both could have come from Wolverine Blues cutting room floor), oozing “Rotten Inferno”, classic canter and blast of “Shred in Pieces”, and all scratch that Swe-death itch. And unmistakable slicing Dismember melodies and leads of “The Stockholm Massacre” and “War Praise” (pretty sure that’s Dismember’s “Patrol 17” riff/solo), will have you scratching to the bone.

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