Music Reviews
The Acacia Strain “Wormwood”
The Acacia Strain“Wormwood”
Genre: Deathcore
Label: Prosthetic Records
Format: CD
Year: 2010
Tracklisting:
01. Beast
02. The Hills Have Eyes
03. BTM FDR
04. Ramirez
05. Terminated
06. Nightman
07. The Impaler
08. Jonestown
09. Bay of Pigs
10. The Carpathian
11. Unabomber
12. Tactical Nuke
The Acacia Strain has proven in their fifth album, Wormwood, that they are more than capable of reasonable, and by my standards, satisfactory development as a band. This is all demonstrated through improved vocals, lyrical content and both passionate, and haunting guitar work, all while maintaining, what I am now referring to as, pitability. Pitability: n. the ability for one or more persons to pit to a song, album, musician(s), etc.
Vocal work in Wormwood has greatly improved since previous albums in overall audibility, and the utilization of guest vocals by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, Bruce Lepage, and Kyle Chard of Born Low. The clarity of Vincent Bennett’s vocals are further complimented by his lyrics. The content of the leads were more direct and personal than usual. I found that Wormwood seemed to have a more finite direction than previous albums, and was a commentary on more than just blind rage. My only problem with this album was the predictability of some of the lyrics; I say this carefully, because many songs and phrases were quite the opposite of this: “Hail Mary, the virgin whore,” who could have seen this coming?!
I believe Wormwood is the CD for preexisting Acacia Strain fans to purchase, however, for those that have not yet been introduced to the band, I would recommend an earlier album such as The Dead Walk before taking this one on. One problem I find when introducing this band to others, is this idea of passion vs. technique. For those that can appreciate a band for its raw intensity however, Wormwood, once again, is the right album for purchasing.
i just picked the record up today and i fucking love it, im a huge acacia supporter, so i think everyone should get it!