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| The Acacia Strain > Albums & Lyrics |
Lately, the metalcore subdivision has been running out of real estate as eager young talent squirm to find a spot within. As such many groups have been trying to push its boundaries to fit their artistic desires. Some opt for a more experimental direction, while others amplify specific aspects of the genres design to gain recognition. Springfield, Massachusetts' own The Acacia Strain have chosen to make their trek down the latter path. Though they have always followed along the same trail such luminaries as Converge and Burnt By the Sun helped to pave, the time has come to enhance that heaviness tenfold. This sextet have done just that, thrusting "3750" into the public's eye with the horrific urgency of a steel train leaping the track to embrace an orphanage. Having escalated their aural madness to a degree unimaginable by those weak of heart. These New England sons have unveiled their Prosthetic Records debut with intentions of attracting fans of Zao, The Red Chord and Unearth through sheer force.
Though the group has been a stalwart champion in the Northeast underground, never have they sounded this intent on serving up purely hostile malevolence. Led by Vincent Bennett's festering growls and a three-tiered guitar assault, this album claws and tears with vicious savagery. Such a punishing frontline ensures violent waves of thick metal sludge, yet even more agonizing are the drawn-out breakdowns, often eclipsing the very songs they emerge from. Lethargic and sludgy, these crushing upheavals in the metallic veneer also appear to be attempts at offering up a "Nothing"-era Meshuggah vibe, but these time signature overdoses comes off as indulgent and unnecessary. Also interspersed throughout are moments of reflective dissonance, though these sample-ridden interludes are a brief respite from the ongoing carnage The Acacia Strain demonstrate. "Halcyon" is the one exception as it touches the opposite end of the metal spectrum, embracing atmospherics over muscle, and it is the only delicate moment on an album otherwise engorged with testosterone.
Blood-soaked fragments of tribal grind, Swedish death & New England hardcore burst forth from The Acacia Strain's slipshod stitching, exposing a myriad of influences which explain how such a monstrous creation came to exist. The group have clearly made a conscious decision to cut back on the length of their songs, as the material found on "3750" is more direct and focused while retaining the dance-pit grooves. While Ben Abert's drumming is rather nondescript and Bennett's screams are often reduced to static roars, the impending aura of doom that seeps into the group's carapace acts as a acceptable cover for Adam Dutkiewicz' surprisingly muddy production. Though The Acacia Strain still function within the constraints of the metalcore genre, they make the most of the situation, pumping out some of the heaviest music the style has seen in some time. Even so, with such a limited amount of material this glorified EP barely whets one's appetite. Though listeners may find their plate empty all too soon, The Acacia Strain will already be coursing through the blood stream, making "3750" a virus worth spreading.
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