THE ACACIA STRAIN

Would the guy that pissed off Vincent Bennett please stand up and identify himself? No? I didn't think so. To be perfectly honest with you all, I think I'd probably be laying low if the volcano of molten hate that spews forth from THE ACACIA STRAIN front man's mouth was directed my way.

Driven by cement-mixer guitars, thick and heavy as hell and Bennett's "fuck-all" lyrical tirades; opening tune, "Skynet" is a good summation of the brick-to-skull battery that is "Continent". Ironically enough, the monstrously multi-tracked guitars have never sounded bigger even though the band's once triple-tiered axe-attack has now been whittled down to the lone Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz. Displaying a deathier side of THE ACACIA STRAIN's (for lack of a better term) deathcore sounds, "Dr. Doom" relies on the speed of a bulldozer in fourth gear and a slightly twisted hardcore groove to make its devastating point. "Baby Buster", which features guest vocals from The Human Furnace of RINGWORM fame as well as some of the album's more sadistic poetry ("I want the world to have my rape baby so I can strangle it to death…" wow, dude) is another intensity-addled rager that dies down in the flames of a depressive, SABBATH-esque groove as the song reaches its end. "Balboa Towers" sees Laskiewicz break the breakdown/chug riff mold with tasty little nugs of time signature tweaking riffery, much of which carries over into the family-friendly "Jesus Fucking Christ"; another tune that speaks to Bennett's (ahem) love for life. In case sarcasm isn't your forte, this particular singer fucking hates everything and isn't shy about it. The main issue is that he isn't exactly dynamic or diverse about it either, resulting in an album's worth of cookie-monster vocals that, at times, makes the malevolence of the tempered death metal-tainted, hardcore groove backdrop provided by the band come to violent life, and other times make you want to skip to one of the aforementioned standout tracks. The instrumental closer, "The Behemoth" is a stellar and melodic change of pace that shows off DL's true skills as a guitarist and songwriter as he volleys back and forth between a driving clean section and emotionally heavy chord progression, soloing his ass off along the way.

By far the darkest and most aggressive album THE ACACIA STRAIN has handed us, "Continent", in many respects, flails the arms that have not flailed and kicks the ass that has yet to be kicked. The disc most definitely shows a band who has taken great lengths to move beyond the played-out, breakdown-laden scene from which they came, yet still retains elements of their core sound. This does create for some incredibly intense and enjoyable moments, but also sees the band spinning their wheels a bit. I'd say more, but I'm not sure I want Bennett pissed at me on the next album.