Band:	LIK
Album:	Lekamen Illusionen Kallet
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	January 22, 2007
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. I Tidens Ände Är Det Tron Som Består
02. Röd Puls
03. Vredens Trolldom
04. Visioner Om En Ödslig Framtid

Black 'n' roll
Sweden
Frostscald Records

Line-up on the CD:
Graav - vocals, all instruments


In June 2010 Frostscald Records decided to re-release LIK's entire discography (a whopping three albums) for the convenience of those who missed out on the first wave of the band's recordings. There is no official website or even fan pages dedicated to the band, making LIK a very difficult subject to write about in terms of history and facts. Why not talk about the music then?

LIK really crapped the bag with this release. After avoiding a sophomore jinx by way of doling out a much more mature album, Graav takes it back to square one with this EP-grade full-length release. Gone is the hearty bass (well, I guess it's still here, but it's almost a non-factor) and added melody, the eerie Gothic atmosphere, the Agalloch-inspired sections - gone, all of it, except for the folk-inspired chants in Swedish. What we have here instead is a stronger Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer, which would have worked better as an expanded edition CD rather than an entirely separate release.

Rock 'n' roll is the name of the game again, without the soul but somehow more accomplished. This is likely due to the fact that the foundation for this sound was already laid four years prior to the album's publication, which creates a sort of Behemoth effect. The Apostasy was a direct follow-up to the to the foundation laid by Demigod, but where Demigod fell short, The Apostasy picked up and added more solidarity to the original structure. Does this mean Behemoth improved? Far from it. It just means an original concept was further added to, losing its integral creativity but gaining strength from the process of editing and revising, much like your average essay: rough draft to final copy.

What works best for Lekamen Illusionen Kallet is its brevity. And that isn't because it's more artful and organic; rather, these 25 minutes are just much easier to take on compared to the 10-minute longer debut. Perhaps LIK decided, during the recording process of Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer, that releasing one long boring debut would be less marketable than releasing two shorter boring albums.

Again, this isn't to say all is bad. The strong points, though few and far between, can be found on tracks like the instrumental "Visioner Om En Ödslig Framtid", with its hazy guitar and playful cymbal work; the occult whispers heard throughout "Röd Puls", bringing back atmosphere that is sorely missing on the rest of the album; and "Vredens Trolldom"'s encompassing riff around the 3-minute mark, pulling the song together with a lot more attitude.

While not a strong follow-up to Besvärtade Strofer, Lekamen Illusionen Kallet is still stronger and more tolerable than LIK's debut overall.