Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Facebreaker
Label: Cyclone Empire
Release: 2010
Length: 37:18
Rating: 4.8/5
“In Sweden we trust!” – at least when it comes to quality death metal! And part of that congregation of faith and devotion to the steel oratorio of violence, brutality and the refined blades of the finest metal is a band that has been sowing fear and terror among soft-hearted, trend-chasing wimps since 1999: the mighty quintet Facebreaker. If the name means nothing to you, no worries. Here’s your guarantee of a string of death metal orgasms: Facebreaker sit closest to the catalog of the immortal Entombed, primal Bolt Thrower, Grave or Six Feet Under, and there isn’t a single gram of pointless compromise crap in this minefield of noise!
Infected, their third record, follows the demo Use Your Fist from 2000, the promo outburst of merciless brutality Hate and Anger, the debut Bloodred Hell and the phenomenal follow-up Dead Rotten and Hungry, and it’s an outstanding piece of work. The guarantee comes from the sweat and toil with Jonas Kjellgren at Black Lounge Studio and with metal icon Peter Tägtgren at the infamous ABYSS studios. But big names aren’t enough, and the metal warriors of Facebreaker (the band consists of throat-ripping despot of the mic Roberth Karlsson, the phenomenal guitar-shredding duo of Janne Ivarsson and Mika Lagreen, bassist Jonas Magnusson and drummer Mikael Wassholm) knew that already when they wove their veil of horror and carnage into a compact run of a dozen killer death metal tracks. Facebreaker don’t pose for a second and don’t bullshit for a second! The very first track, Creeping Flesh, comes in like a steel stampede aiming to crack your skull, smash your facial structure and win you over with a hurricane of metal rage. Unstoppable waves of destructive energy carry on their murderous pogrom, continuing the meditative horror in Cannibalistic. The Entombed era comes roaring back in the superb Torn To Shreds, while Epidemic really deserves a spot in some splatter flick, since its slowed-down, fat guitar discourse suits the image of a psychopathic mass murderer far better than some jittery adrenaline junkie. With Jason Voorhees in mind, it’s time to liven things up and get the blood pumping faster through your arteries. Bloodshed is made for the devastating, charging waves of mosh pit tsunamis in front of stages all over the world, and Facebreaker also convince with their dominance by keeping their marches through the dark corners of the subconscious nicely balanced in length. Like we said, Facebreaker don’t ramble and don’t want to bore you for even a second, and in a little over three minutes every fan of extreme music has plenty of time to fill their soul and ears with good music without being overloaded. We won’t spoil everything, so go check out the rest of the record for yourselves!
Infected is truly an outstanding piece of music, and Facebreaker have perfected the executioner’s art of beheading all the doubting Thomases. No sugary deathcore clichés, no pointless wandering all over the place, no inconsistency. Infected is a stellar record from start to finish. Thick layers of guitars, brutal thundering vocals, a solid rhythm section and inventive songs write Facebreaker into the death metal pantheon of the greatest in golden letters, carved in sweat and blood, in raw effort and honesty. More importantly, the skill of steering between the Scylla and Charybdis of the old and new school of death metal has given these Scandinavian butchers an authoritative individuality, injected their veins with the kerosene of genuine ideas and set them apart from the hordes of needless clones. Infected is therefore mandatory reading for all death metal maniacs and obsessives, for everyone hungry for good music and for all those who crave nothing but a valve to let all their anger and rage drain out of their hearts without a care. Facebreaker have iconoclastically smashed the mannequin face of a fake world and brought liberation. Let’s hope for a quick sequel to this hellish run of demonic slaughter!
This review was written in collaboration between Rock Hard Slovenija and RockLine.
Lineup
Roberth Karlsson – vocals
Janne Ivarsson – guitar
Jonas Magnusson – bass, backing vocals
Mikael Wassholm – drums
Mika Lagreen – lead guitar
Production
Jonas Kjellgren & Peter Tägtgren
Tracklist
1. Creeping Flesh
2. Cannibalistic
3. Torn To Shreds
4. Epidemic
5. The Return (Bonustrack)
6. Bloodshed
7. Mankind Under Siege
8. Waiting For The Pain
9. Into The Pit
10. Bloodthirst
11. Reanimating The Dead
12. Infected
