The Acacia Strain shouldn't need any introductions now. They came along when the US metalcore scene was becoming over saturated and tore it a new one. They released some huge albums and gained massive momentum, before being snapped up by Rise Records after leaving their previous label, Prosthetic and Death Is The Only Mortal was their Rise debut, released in October.
Tracklist:-
1.Doomblade
2.Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow
3.Go To Sleep
4. Brain Death
5. The Mouth of The River
6. Dust and The Helix
7. Victims of The Cave
8. Time and Death and God
9. The Chambered Nautilus
10. House of Abandon
Opener Doomblade begins with a well-known sample before The
Acacia Strain tear into the opening verse. The lead guitar adds melody to the thick,
breakdown filled low-end. The vocals are suitably low as well, but sit at the
top of the mix. Doomblade is more mid-paced than I expected, but the band
hasn’t scrimped on the heaviness at all. Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow sees TAS
explore more thrash metal elements, as well as some unique off-kilter textures.
The use of electronic programming is also present in small amounts on the
record, but unlike many other modern US metal bands, its not as prominent so
doesn't detract from the music or the brutality that TAS spew forth.
There is definitely a djent influence creeping into their
music, which is no bad thing. The riffs at the start of Go To Sleep are a good
example of that. There also seems
to be a subtle hint of sludge too, which shows that TAS are
not just a one-genre band. The production is clean and the song structures are
good. TAS doesn’t overplay things and like to keep to the same formula in the first half of the album. One thing
they do really well, is the brutal breakdowns that are placed in songs. They
don't overuse these and tend to place them alongside other elements, like vocal
or drums refrains etc, to vary their sound. The melodic, introspective guitar
during Brain Death does a good job of breaking up the song's obvious brutality.
You get broad sided by some awesome twin guitar melodies too, that remind you
that at the end of the day, these guys embody what heavy metal is about!
As TAS move into the second half of Death Is The Only
Mortal, they sound well and truly bedded in and start to vary things. Dust And
The Helix sounds more urgent than previous songs, with a real heavy
undercurrent to it. Victims of The Cave sees them heading back into sludgier,
more mid-paced territory. The sinister keyboard effects add intrigue and the
crushing underbelly of the song provides you with ample opportunity to headbang
your head clean off you neck! They hit a real thrashy groove as the song closes
out, which really hits the spot.
As TAS settles into their final three songs, it becomes
apparent that this is not just another metal album and that they are not just
another metal band. The off-kilter sound of Time and Death and God brings
modern flair to their sound, while the quieter more introspective passages
build atmosphere. There's a stop-start aesthetic to The Chambered Nautilus, which
is tempered by some brilliant melodic guitar leads. House of Abandon is one of the heaviest songs on the record,
no further description needed really!
So forget what you though you knew about The Acacia Strain
or your pre-formed opinions, these guys are huge in sound and personality.
Their music may be more modern than I normally feature on these pages, but as a
band that deserves recognition for bringing metal to new, younger audiences,
they are worth the price of admission. Death Is The Only Mortal is a brutal
album, full of different musical elements and should usher in a new, stronger future for both
The Acacia Strain and Rise Records.
TAS have three tracks available for streaming on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/sergeyx/sets/the-acacia-strain-death-is-the.
Rise Records has both CD and vinyl variants of Death Is The Only Mortal for sale in their store at http://riserecords.merchnow.com/.
You can keep up to date the The Acacia Strain at both http://www.theacaciastrain.com/ and at http://www.facebook.com/Theacaciastrain.
No comments:
Post a Comment