Infected

Even if someone has never heard any of Facebreaker's recordings, it isn't hard to guess what type of music they play. Facebreaker is exactly the type of name one expects a metal band to have — and sure enough, death metal is what these Swedes provide on their third album, Infected. The music is about as subtle as the band's name; Facebreaker's death metal is vicious, dense, and bonecrushing, and they thrive on unapologetic bombast. Listeners who are in search of melodic death metal of the In Flames/At the Gates/Age of Ruin variety won't find it here; Facebreaker are totally unforgiving. Facebreaker have never been a terribly original band, but that doesn't erase the fact that Infected is excellent. A number of things make it superior to so many of the other death metal releases of 2010. First, there are the hooks. Whether they are thrashing away at breakneck speed or slowing things down, Facebreaker have hooks galore. Abrasive tracks such as "Into the Pit" (not to be confused with the Testament gem from 1988), "Torn to Shreds," and "Reanimating the Dead" aren't melodic, but they are definitely hooky. And another thing that Facebreaker have going for them is the fact that lead singer Roberth Karlsson (also known for his work with Scar Symmetry and Devian) is fairly easy to understand; he favors a traditional Cookie Monster growl, but unlike so many death metal vocalists, Karlsson doesn't make it difficult or impossible to understand the lyrics that are coming out of his mouth. So even though Facebreaker aren't exactly reinventing the wheel, Infected is a riveting listen if one fancies the have-no-mercy approach to Scandinavian death metal.