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Artist : LIK
Album : The Second Wind
Year : 2011
Genre : Black Metal
Label : Nordvis Produktion
Cat.nr : NVP005
Source : CDDA
R.date : 08.06.2011
Size : 72,3 MB
Encoder : LAME 3.98.4 -V0
Bitrate : avg. 250kbps
Quality : 44,1kHz/Joint-Stereo
Website : http://myspace.com/lekamenillusionenkallet
Tracklist:
01. The Other Realm 05:36
02. Death Breeder 04:43
03. Ed ┼nger 03:34
04. The Delusionist 05:27
05. Insjunken 03:35
06. A Filthy Ride 05:20
07. Kallad till Bortgσng 06:59
08. The Second Wind 05:16
─────
40:30
Release Notes:
LIK had been temporarily shelved after three
albums, all of which were good, but peaking early
on the 2003 debut Mσ Ljuset Aldrig Nσ Oss Mer.
However, as the title to this new full-length
implies, some further inspiration has been drawn
out of the project's uncanny mix of black metal
and dark, rustic rock, and I'm once again
impressed with the unusual aesthetics present
here. Most of the riffs are the sort you'd find in
traditional folk/black metal or Gothic/punk rock,
but mixed with such an organic appeal that they
glide lovingly beneath the dour, low-pitch of the
vocals, and The Second Wind is at once both
festive and unforgiving in its bleak disposition.
"The Other Realm" opens with eerie grace, creating
an impression of black vines slowly climbing and
constricting the limbs and necks of the living,
dragging them into some depressive abyss. I'm not
sure if the breaks are all that effective, but
they lead into the great, bright bridge riffing,
and ultimately this track offers much hope for the
remainder of the album, hope which is capitalized
on by the raucous, rugged rocking of "Death
Breeder" and the cautionary tread of "Ed Anger",
with its percussive, repeated backing vocal
creating a ritual hypnosis through the verse. Some
of the cuts here play out like a blackened Neil
Young ("A Filthy Ride"), while others are far more
morose, subdued and creepily beautiful ("Kallad
til bargtang", "Insjunken"). "The Second Wind"
itself closes out the proceedings with some
ringing melodies, a black/grunge instrumental like
something the Screaming Trees would have written
in their darkest hour.
The mix of the album has just enough low-fidelity
to capture its evocative, backroads drama without
gauging inaccessibility, and it's probably about
as 'pro' as LIK has gotten so far, but should in
no way turn off fans of the prior records. This is
simple composition. Simple listening. But it
implies such a greater potential, maudlin and
dreamlike but sharp-edged like a beartrap or
rusted hunting knife being stabbed into your
thoughts. Unlike a lot of the band's peers,
there's nothing necessarily 'post rock' or
'shoegazer' about this album, it's far too down to
Earth, the stuff of drunken, lonely exasperation
after spilling out from an empty bar into the
cold, measured revenge hanging by the margin of
civilization. It's a fluid and thorny return to
form, and I enjoyed it nearly as much as the debut
album.
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