Acacia Strain - Wormwood Review

The Acacia Strain should be on your "Murder" playlist, if you have one. That's the most apt way to describe this Massachusetts-based assault on your eardrums. Their previous album, Continent, opened my eyes to music that wasn't deathcore, hardcore, or any other kind of -core metal, but just plain punch-you-in-the-balls heavy. Not just the detuned guitars, or the furious vocals, but the overall sound of the album and how heavy it was just blew me away.

Enter Wormwood.

With their guitarist DL making the change from 6 string, Drop A tuning to an 8 string, Drop F tuning, the entire feel of the album changes drastically. Its immense, crushing, epic, and heavy enough to make Oceano look like the Backstreet Boys. I could spend an entire day talking about the guitar tone; about the ridiculously low tuning and all the simple ways its utilized to the utmost. For instance, the mix of quick, staccato palm muting, sinister chords that ring for what feels like an eternity and bowel-loosening low open notes all add up to the heaviest album you've ever heard. But it's not just the guitar that makes this album; Vincent's lyrics are darker, meaner and more unforgiving and unapologetic than ever. From "I hate everything you love" to "...Mary, the virgin whore," everything negative and pissed off is bared on this album.

Now, for the rhythm section. Jack Strong and Kevin Boutot  (bass and drums, respectively) are the chains that hold this wrecking ball of an album together. Jack's bass tone is surprisingly clean and clear. For a bass tuned to Drop F (I'm assuming, since that's what the guitar tuning is) there's no rattling or anything else that would take away from his sound, which is definitely a result of working with Zeuss in the studio. Combine that with his skillful, almost conservative style of bass playing, and you've got the makings for one hell of a heavy album. The drums are one of the things I was most impressed with on this album. Kevin seemed to bring the best elements of his playing from the Continent album, like his punk/hardcore style providing a break for slow, easy beats to compliment DL's riffs. But on this album, he strayed even further from his typical style to incorporate more rolls, more rhythmic fills, a nice bit of syncopation. His skill is apparent on this album for sure, and I can;t wait to hear what hes got up his sleeve next.

Bottom line: from the first eerie, spine-tingling sustained harmonics and disquieting spoken word intro to the last bottom-heavy, skull-rattling note of the ridiculously heavy ending track, this will be the heaviest album you've ever heard. It's the angriest, most skilled assault on your ears you can get from the Acacia Strain. Fans of the band, or heavy music at all, or even just people who want to scare their neighbors away need to buy this album.

Tracklisting:

1. The Beast
2. The Hills Have Eyes
3. BTM FDR
4. Ramirez
5. Terminated 
6. Nightman
7. The Impaler
8. Jonestown
9. Bay of Pigs
10. The Carpathian
11. Unabomber
12. Tactical Nuke