Lönndom - 2007 - Fälen från Norr

Out of Sweden comes Lönndom, the latest incarnation featuring the essence of what once was the mighty Armagedda and Lik. We get eight tracks contemplating nature and old folk tales of the north
and a journey through dark forests at night, with the intro and outro tracks tying the journey together nicely.

The vocals range from clean to spoken or whispered, with parts being growled, setting different moods throughout the journey.

Musically this is a mix of Isengard and Lik, with some parts of Armagedda's Ond Spiritism and some Swedish folk influences. Earlier Ulver comes to mind, mainly because of the concept. It is also something completely different and unique.

The soundquality of this recording is quite good. This music should not be presented with crisp, crystal clear sound, and they have avoided doing just that. This is rather presented with a slightly darker sound, yet everything can be heard clearly here. This is quite different in many ways, there are sounds of nature mixed in with the music, and the music has a distinct Black Metal sound, yet there are factors that are not. A very intriguing album. My biggest complaint is that the album feels too short. This is, however, a masterpiece.

Standout tracks are "Ripeluokte", "Himlalågor", "Stállo" and "På Fjället"

Sunday May 31 2009, by :Vragh:

Lik - 2005 - Besvärtade Strofer - Toner från Gammelbyns Fäbodar

Out of Sweden comes this one man project by Graav of Armagedda fame, with a second fullength album. The music on this release has matured since the previous album, and the Isengard influence that was present on the previous release has all but disappeared. Now we are presented with an album that has an incredibly dark aura surrounding it. I would say that this has progressed away from Black Metal, to a certain extent, and evolved into some sort of Dark Eerie Metal with a slight Rock thing to it. In the music I find some dark and melancholic moods I haven't heard since the Wongraven album that was released in the '90ies, especially in the track "Syner". The music is not really fast, but more towards the slower with parts that are faster here and there.

The vocals are for the most part clean and a bit towards the deeper spectrum and are  spoken at times. They are slightly theatrical, if you will. Typical for Graav, really.

The soundquality on this recording is amazing. It is clear, yet dark, somehow. You hear the instruments clearly, and the sound  is clean. The bass sound is prominent in the mix, but not too much so. This is an absolutely amazing release. I would say this album is slightly better and darker if you understand Swedish, but not speaking or understanding Swedish is not an excuse to miss this release. This is music that you play out in the woods in the darkest hours of the night. This is one of the darkest albums I have ever heard. Get this album!

Of the six tracks presented here, the ones that stand out slightly more than the others are "Prolog", "Varulvsvals" and "Begravd (Epilog)".

Saturday October 21 2006, by :Vragh:

Lik - 2004 - Må Ljuset Aldrig Nå Oss Mer

Swedish band Lik is the sideproject of Graav from the old school Black Metal band Armagedda. Presented on this album are seven tracks of well executed, and rather catchy at times, Black Metal with some Folk influences, mainky in the lyrics. Rather a mix of Armagedda and Isengard. This album actually sounds a lot like Isengard's Vinterskugge album, both musically and vocally. The only exception is the second track, "Hate to be Human", which stands out from the rest of the album with its slow, dark, eerie and almost hypnotic melody and whispered vocals. The mood in this track reminds me of Carpathian Forest's cover of The Cure's "A Forest", off of their Black Shining Leather album.

This album has a clear production, but still maintaining the underground feel in the sound. There are some synth parts present, but these arrangement are only there to add more depth to the music, just as the ones on Vinterskugge. The drums are very basic, which really fits the concept of this band.

This album has a nice Black Metal feel of days of yore, and if you feel like reliving the early magic you could do far worse than buying this album.

Thursday May 20 2004, by :Vragh:

Armagedda - 2004 - Ond Spiritism - Djäfvulens Skalder

Here we have the last album by this Swedish Horde. This album sees a progression in their music more towards the slow and heavy, with an amazing groove and a very dark and hatefilled aura. The musicianship is most excellent here. Along with the last Lik album this is one of the darker albums on the market. Since the band wanted to distance themselves from the Black Metal scene, this could perhaps be more accurately labelled Dark Occult Metal.

The vocals are more towards the spoken here, with a raspiness that really gives the music that hatefilled mood I mentioned. Graav has found a rather unique vocal style.

The production is very good on this album, with a full sound to it. I really like the guitar sound on this album. The production is somewhat similar to the Lik album mentioned earlier as well, and the bass guitar is used more prominently than on most other releases in metal these days. This is an album that is better if you understand Swedish, since Graav's lyrics are truly amazing, but by no means should you miss out on this album if you don't. This is a really dark and good album!

Standout tracks are "Döpt i Oheligt Vatten", "Afsked" and "Döden Styr Lifvet".

Saturday October 21 by :Vragh: