Stockholm's Lifelover aren't your typical black metal band. Their music is as menacing and depraved as anything you'd expect from Scandinavia, but the band's desire to eschew any sort of categorisation allows the five-piece to appeal to unlikely listeners - like me, for example. Their new album Erotik (on Total Holocaust) is an assortment of unexpected influences converging to make one palatable serving of evil. The crunching guitars and piano on "I Love To Hurt You" congregate for a doomy celebration, and ( )'s vocals reach a primal scream that at points recalls Bob Mould's harshest yelps with Hüsker Dü. On top of that there's even a spot of loveliness where a delicate piano break relieves the heavy drain of the band's torturuous sway. I'm sure they wouldn't want to hear this, but Lifelover make remarkably accessible music that proves the most sensitive ears of the world could welcome a black metal band into their lives. Even the most serious death threat couldn't stop me from saying this is essentially pop music wrapped in the most sinister of packages.
Lifelover "I Love To Hurt You"
Lifelover "I Love To Hurt You"