the Acacia Strain : "Step into the Light"

This band is releasing two albums , here is the first. It finds metal core being done with a burlier desire, and production that is dialed in to not sound over produced while capturing some crushing guitar sounds. The do not begin to get more on the grind core side of spastic until 'Chain". The first two songs worked well enough for me thanks to the reframed production value. But can they continue to be this pounding and heavy without growing boring? The fact they are short songs helps. "Fresh Bones" is the first that breaks the two minute mark. "Teeth of the Cursed Dog' is more deliberate but the songs are starting to numb me into finding the crunch of their sound creating a uniformity that is beginning to make everything sound the same. 

"Open Wound' is more of a death metal song. The double bass drives it. The vocals are the only thing bringing more of a hard core influence. This takes a more pronounced turned on "SINKHOLE" as they are more fully committed to being a hard core band, with the vocals letting up on some of the growl. The pace is more deliberate for sure. They go for more of a break down after leading off a chant. While predictable it is effective. The drummer bands his China to cymbalize this. "Is This Really Happening?" finds maximum density reached as the chugs turn to metallic slush in my ears. Perhaps they need to lean into their death metal side a little more. 

They do this to some extent on "Untended Graves" , but it is also tempered with hardcore. I can appreciate the lyrical sentiment on "None of Us Asked to Be Here". It is much more death metal in theme. If you only listen to music in order to have your ears pounding by heaviness, then I am not sure why you are reading this blog as that kind of music is something that only impresses me for a song. Here they vary things enough to earn an 8, lets see what they do on the second album. 

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