The Acacia Strain “Death is the Only Mortal” Album Review
THE ACACIA STRAIN
Vincent Bennett – vocals
Daniel Laskiewicz – guitar
Kevin Boutot – drums
Jack Strong – bass guitar, backing vocals
review by Shannah Tighe
@Shannuhxo
Warning: This review might be a bit biased since I love this band and they’re from here. 😉 But in all honesty, I was super excited to hear this since they were signed to Rise Records this year. Read more to find out if there sound has changed or not!
Available October 9th on Rise Records
Track Listing:
01. Doomblade
02. Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow
03. Go To Sleep
04. Brain Death
05. The Mouth of the River
06. Dust and the Helix
07. Victims of the Cave
08. Time and Death and God
09. The Chambered Nautilus
10. House of Abandon
Doomblade is such a great opening song. It’s probably my favorite off of the album. I’ve listened to the album about 3 times now and this one is perfect in every way possible. The beginning and ending sound creepy, not to mention the “911, I murdered someone” call in the beginning. If you’re in a “SCREW YOU, I HATE YOU” mood, then this album is perfect for you.
Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow starts out with some good low and high vocals. About halfway through the song there’s some creepy almost chorus like vocals that are hidden in the back behind the guitars and then back into some intense growls. It’s the little things like that in songs that make me like them, and make them stand out to me, personally. The ending creepy/ambient sounds are fantastic.
Go To Sleep starts off with some pretty negative lyrics about life. I really like the amount of ‘higher’ vocals there are in this rather than the low growling. This one is actually super catchy in my opinion. I also like the walkie-talkie effect (is that the proper term? Probably not…) over the vocals behind the growls. The vocals on the outro and more creepy ambient guitars are spot on. Little touches like that are what makes this album cohesive and flow.
Brain Death has a fun but simple intro. This one is probably the catchiest guitar-wise on this album. I love the random guitar solo in this song as well. I wasn’t expecting it originally because it’s not like a lot of the songs on the album but it was well done. Then there’s a lovely breakdown.
The Mouth Of The River gets to the point pretty quickly with how heavy they’re going with this song. I love the bass in this song and the lyrics are pretty legit, some are pretty generic though, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” which I’m sure will end up on their merch if it already hasn’t.
Dust and the Helix has my favorite intro; pretty fast and in your face. This is the shortest on the album and the intro was the only real thing to grab my attention in this song.
Victims of the Cave has a nice rhythm going on and I’m going to take a guess and say this is going to be one of the more popular songs on the album because it’s one of the heaviest. Also, the last minute of the song is fantastic guitar wise.
Time and Death and God nice intro but I’m going to take a guess at the title being a bit of humor from the guys since they everyone knows about their stand on religion. This is probably another top song from the album for me. I dig the 2 minute+ instrumental and the creepy speaking part.
The Chambers Nautilis is a pretty angry sounding song with some relevant lyrics. Great if you’re in a hateful mood. Outros like the one on this song and a couple others on the album are what make me love albums…I’m weird. Let’s move on.
Last but not least, House of Abandon is the longest and is one of the heaviest on this album. It’s about 4 minutes of Vincent growling at you. (Which I’m okay with…) There is another guitar solo in this that I really dig, and I think it makes them sound like they are giving little improvements in their music. The last three minutes on the album have no vocals whatsoever and it’s just instrumental love to your ears. And do I hear a hint of piano towards the end?! Diggin’ it…
So all in all, I love this band and this album. I was stoked to be able to review it. It’s not super technical but the production is well done and it was definitely worth the wait. 4/5 stars in my opinion.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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