Facebreaker – Dedicated to the Flesh

How Many Songs About Zombies Can Be Written?

So what do we got here? A metal band from Sweden!? No way! But not just any metal band, this is Facebreaker. That’s right, their name is FACEBREAKER. Shit, that’s pretty brutal… not gonna lie. Anyways, these homies have their fourth full length, Dedicated to the Flesh, to incise your cranium.

Guitarist Janne Ivarsson: Hey bro, how you wanna open this album?
Guitarist Mika Lagrén: I dunno, drone out some power chords then chug?
Ivarsson: Gotcha.

And thus the story of “Meat Freak” was told. Drop that shit to C and let our friends Ivarsson and Lagrén take over. The tale isn’t over, though, cause title-track “Dedicated to the Flesh” brings to you the death metal equivalent to Motörhead. However, the chorus brings about more typical double-bass lore you’d come to expect of a death metal band from Sweden. That’s not all bad, though– with touches of Vomitory (think Blood Rapture), and some guitar soloing akin to Bill Steer, it’s not always the worst idea to stray from the recipe.

Really, though, how many songs about zombies can be written? “Zombie Flesh Cult” details nearly every Six Feet Under (or Cannibal Corpse) song just about ever. To top it off, there’s another song called “Swarm of Zombies.” Come on, guys. You’re better than this. Sure, it’s brutal and shit, but COME ON.

Ok, fine… at least “Mutilator” has some seriously beastly chugging going on. Can’t hate on that. Oh, there’s also some Shannon Hamm solo action going on. Not bad. But then Facebreaker has to hit you with “Hellmaster.” First off, it’s called “Hellmaster.” COME ON, MAN. And then the song sounds like Amon Amarth taking a nap while in the tracking room.

Alright, alright… listen, Facebreaker did a decent job here. “Nuclear Outbreak” reminds me of Superjoint Ritual with gore-vox, and “World Cremation” almost feels like a Venom tune. But, in the end, Dedicated to the Flesh feels uninspired and formulaic. That being said, this would most likely appeal to most death/gore fans who love everything from Metal Blade’s catalog, 1995-2005.