Photo: Michaela Barkensjö
When you look for more HM-2 driven Swedish death metal in the current scene, look no further than the discography of Lik to satisfy those aural needs. Necro as the fourth studio album features another crushing, diverse array of tunes, designed to decimate all to their calling. We spoke to drummer Chris Barkensjö to find out about the new record, their jamming methodology to creating the music, why horror, zombie, and serial killer themes are a perfect match to their songs, band chemistry, favorite death metal albums / concerts, why respect matters most as a father / parent, and what’s in store for the group including their first trip to the USA.
Dead Rhetoric: Necro is the fourth studio album for Lik – and first since the 2020 Misanthropic Breed release. Outside of the pandemic, were there other circumstances that took place in life or band activities that caused you to take a bit more time with this album?
Chris Barkensjö: Yeah, you could put it like that. We sure took our time. But the thing is, since the pandemic struck at the same time that we entered the studio for Misanthropic Breed, the world was on hold for two years. We didn’t get the time to play that record live. We felt like that was unfair. Both the workload to make the album and then getting our fans to hear the songs live. We waited it out, and I think we had a pretty good run for Misanthropic Breed. After that, we were kind of exhausted for a while. We didn’t feel the flow, and we didn’t have any inspiration to go back to the rehearsal space. Nobody had any ideas. Basically, it’s always been Tomas and me who feed off each other, but it took a while.
Five years isn’t that long if you count how long the world has been around, right? It was worth the wait I would say. We don’t want to just release a record for the sake of it. We don’t want to be like ‘here’s another album, here you go.’ It has to be good; you don’t want to release anything that you can’t stand behind fully.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you assess the songwriting and performances for this latest record? And how do you see this sitting in the discography of the group compared to some of the previous releases?
Barkensjö: I would say this album is more versatile than the other three. The others also have slow, mid-paced, and fast songs but on the first two there was a bit more of the fast stuff. We don’t leave the fast stuff – we make the songs as they come along. The slow songs, maybe from the start they are a bit more mid-paced, and we just can’t feel it. Nille will come in and say, ‘slow it down’. For example, “The Deranged” from Carnage, that was mid-paced and faster when we made that song, but it turned out to be a slow one. This time around, we didn’t decide on anything – but it was more, can we top Misanthropic Breed? But then after a while, we can’t think in those terms and ways where we have to top ourselves. Let’s just write an album. What comes to us now is what it’s going to be.
I think this album is a bit more versatile. It has everything in a good mix. We have some songs that are slow in the beginning, then they turn out fast – we have others that are fast at the start and then go down to mid-paced stuff. I like it. I think it’s a good album – now I’m satisfied (laughs). Looking back at it now, we recorded it in September 2024. It’s been a few months now.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you find the best material for the band comes out when you are jamming in the rehearsal room, face to face? Without any preconceived notions or walking in ahead with some prepared riffs?
Barkensjö: Yeah, I would say yes. The jam sessions are the ones. Also coming prepared- Tomas may come in with a demo of some riffs and basic, easy tempos. He doesn’t want to make special drum parts. And then he will tell me to do something with this. Most of the time we feed off of each other – I really like those sessions. It’s so much fun when all four of us are in the same room, rehearsing together. It’s so fulfilling, and we have fun also. That’s why we are still doing this. It’s a perfect band, a perfect match. We are four friends having a good time, writing music together. Going with the flow, you know? I don’t want to sound hippie or anything, but that’s the way it is.
Dead Rhetoric: Subjects like zombies, world apocalypse, murder, death, and fantasy stories about war fuel the lyrical content for Lik. What influences capture the band’s attention the most – and why does it serve as a perfect complement to the classic death metal musical foundation of the group?
Barkensjö: All of us are into horror movies. And I also enjoy, still to this day, serial killer documentaries and reading about serial killers. I am fascinated about shit that is like, odd if you know what I mean. And serial killers are odd (laughs). Just the way the mind of a human, how it works. When you are in pressed situations, everybody has a killer in them, in some way. If you are in an oppressed situation, and you know the only way to stay alive is you have to kill, it’s enticing to write about. I have written about the nuclear disaster that happened in the Ukraine. What if there were zombie like people that were walking around in the sewer? Stuff like that. On this album, we have a song called “Worms Inside” and Tomas had a dream that his girlfriend got eaten by worms. We have “They”; I had a movie in my head, deformed monstrous kids coming up from the underground in the normal world and killing us off, one by one.
That’s one thing that’s so cool about death metal. It’s up to you how free you want to write about this. We keep on writing about real stuff and twist things around. That’s the way our minds work.
Dead Rhetoric: How were you able to get Daniel Sjöberg to contribute a spoken-word monologue during “Rotten Inferno”? What do you enjoy most about his delivery and style that adds extra coloring to this track?
Barkensjö: When the song was recorded and we had made the demo for that one, we sat down and wrote a couple of words in Swedish. We are very inspired by Autopsy, and we love Chris Reifert when he is doing his ranting like a crazy madman. It would be hard for him though to ramble on in Swedish. We wrote this down and I didn’t think too much about it. Tomas felt something was missing, and he knows Daniel because they have worked together in the cartoon industry, that’s one of the jobs he has. Daniel is an actor, and he did this so good, he sounds so creepy. It suited the track so well, so we had to keep this. He put it in there, we sent it back and forth a couple of times. Not a lot of people are going to understand what he’s saying.
Dead Rhetoric: You recently released a video for “Morgue Rot”, which also includes a special guest. What was the video shoot like?
Barkensjö: I would say that video is the coolest one we’ve done so far. Tomas really took one for the team. A dream come true from him to be drowned in something black, mushy… it was both disgusting and hilarious. Mathias, the director, he is a friend of ours, really professional. That video, we had to reshoot it because something went wrong the first time we did it. It went fast, but it turned out cool. We really like this video – it’s going to be hard to top that one, I think.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the band chemistry within Lik? Do you believe it’s important to not only get along on a musical level, but also a personal level, to develop the right appeal to your followers?
Barkensjö: Yes, absolutely. The four of us, we are four friends. We enjoy each other’s company – we even enjoy hanging out. If there is an issue within the band, we always talk about it. We’ve been together now for eleven years – Joakim has been in the band now for seven years. When he came in before Misanthropic Breed, he had stepped in live before. He’s a perfect fit. We haven’t really talked about it, but if anyone were to quit, I don’t know. I can’t really see it continuing. We don’t have to think about that. We have a good time, most of the time. Sometimes we go down to the rehearsal room and just talk, not getting anything done. I think that’s a good formula for us.
Dead Rhetoric: What is your approach to the drums over the years in the numerous bands and projects you’ve been a part of? Where do you think you’ve seen the greatest amount of improvement when it comes to your technique and abilities?
Barkensjö: Oh, yeah. First of all, it’s good as a drummer that I started out early. I started playing the drums when I was eight years old. I got hooked on metal early on, and I started my first death metal band when I was fourteen years old. But I also of course – I’m a music lover, if it’s good music, it’s good music. To me it doesn’t matter what genre it is – I can enjoy pop to everything. When I was younger, I tried to play as much different music and of course in different genres also. Back in the day, we didn’t have the opportunity to learn from YouTube guys. I played in a lot of bands. Many would say, what are you, some kind of band whore? I wanted to explore other sides of my playing.
I wish I could rehearse more than I do. It’s been a bit of a backlash the last couple of years since I don’t have a drum kit at home. It’s about to change, so I can sit and play funk, blues, rock, whatever. I’m very much of a play what I feel guy; I just go with things. I’m a very soulful player. If I’m in the right mood, everything is smooth, and I disappear into my own little world. I can just feel it. If you ask me, I’m not a technical drummer in that way – I’m more of a basic, rock/metal drummer. I wish I could be a bit more technical, maybe. But it’s not what makes my blood boil, if you know what I mean.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your views on the state of death metal currently – and its evolution over the past few decades? Do you believe the diversity and volume of young and old artists have helped keep its appeal steadfast, especially in the underground world?
Barkensjö: Yeah. I think it goes up and down. It has a lot to do whether the kids get the opportunity to start bands, to get their own rehearsal spaces. I think that is so important. We are a rehearsal band; we don’t send files back and forth to each other. It’s especially important when you are starting off a band, of course you can be a YouTube player, but I think you are losing a lot of the human touch. When you can feed off each other’s energy, in a room. Compared to you and me sitting here in a Zoom meeting, it’s not the same. As long as the kids get intrigued by death metal, I have a hard time seeing death metal disappearing. It might evolve even more, for sure. There will always be kids that will be hugely influenced by Cannibal Corpse. That genre will not die anytime soon, bands like Dismember and Entombed as well. As long as it’s appealing, easy access, it will not die out. That was the way for me, anyways.
Dead Rhetoric: What would surprise us to learn about the musicians within Lik during your downtime away from music? Do you have the proper support from friends and family for your musical endeavors?
Barkensjö: Oh yeah. Especially for me, I have a wife and three sons, so I am away a lot when we play. They have supported me all the way. I can’t live off of this music, obviously. I am a normal, hard-working man. In my down time, I go to the gym. On Mondays I hold two classes, train a bunch of people, and put together some Crossfit workouts. I like sweating, putting pain to my body (laughs). And hanging out with the family, that’s important to me.
Dead Rhetoric: What are some special memories you’ve had over your musical career?
Barkensjö: When you go on your first long tour. That was like, wow – now I’m on a roll. Everything is about timing, also. I don’t really think about things in that way. What do you like most – standing on a big festival stage or do you like being in a cramped-up bar with 200-300 people? I enjoy the latter one the most. When you get that energy, the sweatiness is ridiculous. It’s a fantastic feeling when you get that. With Lik, when you see people singing along to the lyrics you have written, it’s so satisfying. Getting people to come up to you after the show telling us they love our music – that’s good enough for me. It’s so humbling, and I’m satisfied with that. I don’t have to go on world tours and play big stadiums, although it would be cool to play Madison Square Garden, it’s not going to happen. I don’t care.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider three of most essential metal albums when it comes to your tastes – they can be death metal or otherwise? And what’s your favorite or most memorable concert memory, attending a show purely as a fan in the audience – plus what made this show stand out to you?
Barkensjö: That’s a hard one. Three albums. I would say for death metal – Clandestine – Entombed. Like An Ever Flowing Stream – Dismember and Unorthodox – Edge of Sanity. Three important death metal albums, but there are so many others. Arise and Beneath the Remains by Sepultura have been huge. Cannibal Corpse – they have released so many albums. The Bleeding. And Human with Death – I got stuck on that record. It’s great, Sean Reinert is a huge influence. Mr. Dave Lombardo – Seasons in the Abyss, South of Heaven, Reign in Blood. Great albums still to this day, mind-blowing how cool that is.
Concert – I got blown away watching Pantera opening for Megadeth. They just walked on stage – and blew me away. Talk about energy, on stage I was front row – I was eighteen years old, that Dimebag, he could play. That is a concert that got stuck in my head and heart. I’ve seen Slayer a million times – with Dave Lombardo so I’m happy for that. Metallica – the black album tour, I was young then. That was cool.
Dead Rhetoric: Being married and a father to three children, how have those aspects changed your outlook and viewpoint as a father, partner, and person? What sort of wisdom or ideas do you try to impart on your children?
Barkensjö: I always have gone with one thing – respect. Have respect for yourself, and then you can have respect for others around you. I always treat others as if you wanted to be treated yourself. That will go a long way, for sure. It’s that easy, but hard to follow. None of my kids – I have three sons – they haven’t picked up an instrument, unfortunately. They love music, but they aren’t playing anything in that sense. My two oldest ones have electronic drum kits, but they think (the playing) is just going to come to them for free (laughs). But it’s in our DNA! Oh no – you don’t know the hours I’ve put into this. Kids today, they are looking at things a bit differently.
Dead Rhetoric: What is on the agenda for anything related to Lik – or your other bands/projects – over the next year or so?
Barkensjö: We just switched booking agencies recently. Since Nille has been playing bass in Katatonia, we thought it might be easier for us to synchronize when it comes to festivals to put in Lik and Katatonia. We switched three weeks ago, and now we have at least double the festivals. We will see if we get a tour for this album. We are going to the states for the first time – we are going to play Maryland Deathfest. It’s going to be fun; we got the visas approved for all four of us. After that we come home, and we will do our album release show three days later in Stockholm. We will keep on kicking off the year, festival by festival, having a good time.