The Acacia Strain is a band that has never held back their intensity, brutality and form. For almost 20 years, The Acacia Strain has blessed us with their signature sound of hardcore and dethcore in classic albums such as Continent, Wormwood, Gravebloom and more. With their new album Slow Decay, they came with the ultimate arsenal of heaviness as well as incorporating new tricks in twists. With their series of It Comes in Waves serving as the ultimate pregame to this album, everything from the sound, to the presentation was top notch.

Opening up with Feed a Pigeon, Breed a Rat, It starts off with a very unsettling and torturous atmospheric sound that instantly braces you for the darkness and impact that is ahead. Then Vincent’s scream comes out of nowhere unleashing the scream saying “it Feels like Hell”, kicking in with the all out brutality of dethcore we all know and love. Then it pulls back for some unsettling melody. They reinforce turmoil and darkness in multiple languages. Groove, intensity and atmosphere demonstrated. Crippling Poison comes next which delivers all out relentlessness right out of the gate that is suspenseful and eerie. When the ball gets rolling, there is a nice element of catchiness behind the intensity and brutality. There is plenty of breakdowns and intensity to keep you at the edge of your seat. Though it is simple, this track is beyond intense. Seeing God, which features Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece delivers a signature fast and hardcore grit with all out brutality and intensity. Moving super fast and providing a great flow to induce the circle pits. The rhythm is catchy and brutal. It alters its pace halfway through to be more break down driven and has that slow violent aspect of it. Solace and Serenity brings back its more raw and atmospheric side to reinforce the eeriness and opts for a slower approach while the vocals keep the brutality consistent. Taking a slower pace gives the listener a change to lay back and indulge in the darkness and catch their breath after crowdkilling to the previous songs. The Lucid Dream which features Jesse Nyx of Mortality Rate, continues its slower and down-tuned momentum and then at 45 seconds, Jesse’s collaborative vocals kick in as the song speeds up with its groove and intensity. This song moves in multiple ways and in turn will make you move along with it. This track has the ability to alter its structure more to keep suspense prevalent.  I breathed in the smoke deeply it tasted like death and I smiled, featuring Zak Hatfield of Left Behind brings us a very raw rhythmic buildup that braces you for the inevitable impact. You know something is coming from this steady and raw drum sound. This is the track to prepare you for a wall of death. Vocals come in gradually then suddenly over the unsettling rhythm. The vocals act as a narrative to lead you in. It all kicks in after a minute and a half with a great melodic side of the band. This delivers an essence of emotion and darkness. Its sludgy, it’s emotional, atmospheric and makes the whole album more eerie. This represents a burden both internally and externally and is practically melodic death metal combined with doom but still has enough of a hard hitting grit to make it fit on the album. Crossgates is more of a return to form in The Acacia Strain’s hardcore roots. It is short and brutal and to the point essentially being a minute long killing spree of intensity. It is Slow, murky and raw and straight killer. Inverted Person is when it picks up the paste and returns to its more hardcore roots again and brings us the signature dethcore sound. It continues its more raw and atmospheric sides so it doesn’t abandon the melodic and doomy parts we heard before. Has a “verse chorus” like structure making it easy to keep up with as well. Chhinnamasta has a strange little intro before Vincent screams “I cant fucking breathe” A line that its very important to the times and this time it picks up speed even more while a sustained guitar note hides underneath the intense structure. There is underlying melody behind it but this track slaps from one side to the other.This is a track that serves as a soundtrack to the unrest we are currently facing. One Thousand Painful Stings, feat. Courtney LaPlante of iwrestledabearonce, Continues the raw and eerie momentum while the vocals also serve as some dialogue in the intro to further enhance the narrative. After delivering its death and doom sound for a good half of the song, we get Courtney’s harmonies to further make the song seem more full and immersive. Courtney delivers these eerie vocal harmonies that makes the track more immersive and more epic. Birds of Paradise, Birds of Prey brings more Intense riffs and brutality and delivers the ultimate crowd-killing momentum we all know and love. Some melodic guitars deliver more emotion behind the intensity. It has a melancholy feel to it that shows sides of The Acacia Strain we have never seen before. Fading away at the end, it almost has a personal side of Vincent we haven’t seen. This is clearly a track that is going to induce chills for many listeners. The final track, Earth Will Become Death picks up from the last track and delivers a great melodic dethcore sonic farewell of an anthem. It contains s similar vibe that is mysterious and leaves you wondering what is coming from this group next.

The Acacia Strain always came with their guns loaded for every album, but for Slow Decay, we get an entire army. The Acacia Strain was able to deliver their raw energy, power and intensity behind their intense sound with a great selection of noticeable guests and further pushed their boundaries of what makes them so memorable. With a lot of big time risks, there was a big time reward. Slow Decay is the soundtrack to the anger and rage that has been building up inside everyone in 2020.

Out now on Rise Records.