The offshoot of punk known as deathcore is perhaps considered the most applicable genre tag when it comes to trying to actually categorize The Acacia Strain, but in truth, their sound is a blend of different styles - death metal and doom metal are both prevalent, as are hardcore, punk and noise rock. Their three-guitar lineup is key to the brutality of their sound, and they’ve also often relied on unsettling sampling to create sonic atmosphere. Bennett is now the only original member left in the band; drummer Kevin Boutot only joined in 2005, with bassist Jack Strong joining him in the rhythm section a year later. Dave Shidaker and Richard Gomez have handled guitar duties since 2013.
Bennett is the key figure in the band, with his aggressive onstage attitude something that’s mirrored by his nihilistic - and often misanthropic - lyricism. There’s no question, either, that Bennett has courted controversy by exploring themes of misogyny, violence and sexual deviancy in The Acacia Strain’s music; for some, though, this darkness is key to their appeal. They’ve increasingly made inroads on the American charts, with 2014‘s ‘Coma Witch’ reaching number thirty-one on the Billboard rundown in their homeland, despite the fact that their music is hardly striking as being especially commercial.
The Acacia Strain is a deathcore band from Chicopee Massachusetts. They're music is unrelentingly heavy and aggressive, to the point of genuinely striking fear in your heart (and in particular if you're not a really a death metal fan to begin with), but also to the point of not really being sustainable as a main headline slot - I don't mean this as a bad thing, it's actually reassuring on some level to see them as part of a larger bill with other bands, to remind you that there is other music that isn't an all-swallowing black hole of death metal. But I mean this as a compliment, and I think The Acacia Strain would probably take it as one too. They are definitely like a punch in the gut when you see them live, and Vincent Bennett's gutural vocals are really compelling in their power and the sheer sound they make. In between songs he mutters things such as "don't hate yourself, hate everybody else", and "there's too much positivity going on in music today". And then there's the crowd. I've not been to many death metal shows, but I've never quite seen anything like it, it was like full-on rioting, with punches flying, and a mosh pit that wasn't so much a 'pit' (there wasn't anyone standing still round the edges) as just all out chaos. If you're not a death metal fan but just love going to see live music, you'd be in for quite an experience going to see The Acacia Strain. Not for the faint hearted though!
philsomervell
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