For more than two decades, the seasoned deathcore veterans Acacia Strain have been navigating the diverse landscapes of metal subgenres, crafting a distinctive sludge metal sound infused with lyrics full of death metal vile and apocalyptic satire. Their refusal to conform to conventions in a genre often characterized by mimicry has allowed TAS to consistently push the boundaries of brutality.
With their latest unyielding musical onslaught, TAS released two separate but connected albums in 2023; "Step into the Light" and "Failure Will Follow." This musical dichotomy exposes two different aspects of the TAS sound, beckoning us into a heavy music barrage where the ferocity of sludge-laden deathcore converges with the murky depths of doom.
Now hailing out of New York, The Acacia Strain formed in 2001 and released their first album …And Life is Very Long in 2002. Vocalist Vincent Bennett, the sole original member of the band, spewed a guttural delivery with lyrics painting pictures teetering between aggressive death metal and doomish satire, Vincent would continue writing about similar material while exploring different aspects of his vocal delivery in later albums.
Their 2010 single The Hills Have Eyes, from the album Wormwood, has a beatdown hardcore style that punches you in the face and keeps chugging, complete with belting vocals from Bennett that would have anyone ready for two-stepping into major danger and ALL his cadets. The Hills Have Eyes is a testament to TAS’s ability to slightly skew their style while maintaining the dark marriage of doom and hardcore punk that forges their distinct sound.
Released before The Hills Have Eyes, their sludge sound was notably evident in early tracks like Sun Poison And Skin Cancer, echoing the pacing found in slower doom bands like Candlemass, while also borrowing from the opposing mudier punk vibes sludge bands like The Melvins made popular. The combination of the two is what sets TAS's sound apart from the conventional realms of death metal and deathcore.
After completing three albums with Prosthetics Records TAS signed with Rise Records and released the djent styled Death is the Only Mortal in 2012. Receiving critical acclaim as one of their best albums to date, it was also their last album with guitarist Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz. The encapsulating dynamic Death is the Only Mortal proved the band could, and would, continue to mix up their sound while maintaining their edge.
Their next album would be 2014’s Coma Witch, the first album to feature their current lead guitarist Devin Shidaker, formerly of Oceano. Coma Witch and the band's next album Gravebloom, both proved to harken back to the darker, downtuned sludgecore sound first established by the band in its early career.
With Shidaker in on lead guitar, a new era of experimentation began with 2019’s “It Comes in Waves”. Just a year later, they’d release Slow Decay, with both albums exploring a sludgier more doom-ridden ambiance. That leads us to last year's double release exposing two sides of the same entity.
The two releases showcase a band unrelenting and continually evolving, leaving TAS poised on the edge of an exciting future in the world of heavy music. One-half of the releases, Step Into the Light, showcases the deathcore the band is best known for, clocking in with an onslaught of 10 songs running just 20 minutes. In contrast, the album Failure Will Follow proves a slow doomy sludge through the darkness, clocking in with just three songs at just under 40 minutes.
The last albums were written with long-time drummer Kevin Boutot, Acacia Strain commissioned new drummer Matt Guglielmo to tour in support of the records. After finishing out the rest of the year touring, TAS shows no signs of slowing down in 2024.
To continue the support of the albums, TAS recently announced a tour in support of technical prog metal veterans, Between the Buried and Me. Celebrating the anniversaries of their iconic albums Colors and Colors II, BTBAM is set for a city tour spanning two nights per location, where they will perform each album in its entirety.
In support, TAS's releases Step Into The Light and Failure Will Follow will be featured one on each night, promising a thrilling experience for fans of technical death jazz and death sludge alike. While the future of TAS’s sound remains uncertain, with the tour extending through April 2024, the band has ample time to craft new material that is bound to captivate and brutalize their audience once more.