Band:	LIK
Album:	Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. Pest Och Pina
02. Hate To Be Human
03. Djupa Sinn
04. Guds Förlorade Skapelser
05. Evig Natt
06. Namnlös
07. Bortom Allt Live

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?

Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer is an odd mixture of frivolous black metal and rock 'n' roll. Sounds exciting, right? Well it isn't. Graav, apparently the only member of the band, does a very ordinary job of executing his ideas in the studio. There aren't any remarkable features to be mentioned, nor are there any indubitable misconceptions: it's all just so pedestrian, and music should be anything but pedestrian.

The most discernible trait of LIK's sound is the lack of bass on this album. As in there is literally no bass guitar, or at least I couldn't hear a single note of it. Graav graces us with a semi-banjo-sounding electric guitar to make amends for it though, played at about one note per minute, providing us further with some painfully monotonous riffs that go anywhere but where they should. There isn't much to speak about in regards to the essence of the actual music either: everything on the album is just there, like a spider on your wall that isn't big enough to make you want to kill it, but you still look up every now and again to make sure it doesn't come too close. "Just in case..." It seems there was a lot of that going on during the recording of Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer. "Just in case..."

Drumming in black metal is usually destructively fast-paced, but that's where a lot of the rock 'n' roll feel comes from on this album. There isn't as much blasting as there is simple hi-hat abuse, which becomes annoying before the first track, "Pest Och Pina", even finishes. Strong cymbal work doesn't normally grind my gears quite like this, but LIK has managed to upset me with such a mundane task.

If you can't tell by now, I'll just come right out and say it: I'm upset by this album. Not because I had high expectations or because it personally offends me, but there was potential for this amalgamation of black metal and rock 'n' roll to really play out as something special. Instead it sounds like a weak version of both genres, making it unstable and lacking in the personality department. There is undoubtedly rhythm and groove, but not enough power or conviction to make this a worthwhile listen.