Two years after their double release, The Acacia Strain are already back.
For Vincent Bennett (vocals), Devin Shidaker (guitar, ex-Rose Funeral, ex-Oceano), Griffin Landa (bass), Mike Mulholland (guitar, ex-Emmure), and Matt Guglielmo (drums, End), the adventure continues at the dawn of their quarter-century with the arrival of their thirteenth album, You Are Safe from God Here.
When the album kicks off, you better be ready, because it’s going to go fast. It starts with the haunting bass of Eucharist I: Burnt Offering, but the rest of the band is quick to join in the oppression, first with a very sludge-like slowness, then with a more sustained rhythm that doesn’t hesitate to show off heavier, explosive passages before moving on to A Call Beyond, which adopts hardcore roots. Needless to say, the song is very vindictive, even when the slowness slows down its abrasive rhythm, as on Swamp Mentality, which borrows its most furious passages from grind before returning to more groovy and catchy palm mutes. The band welcomes Brody King and Colin Young (God’s Hate), who reinforce the vocal section on The Machine That Bleeds, a very direct and uncompromising track, then continues with Mourning Star, which maintains a virulent dynamic that multiplies the strikes with chaotic patterns while offering passages tailored for the stage. I Don’t Think You Are Going to Make It comes in turn to deliver blows with regular strikes conducive to moshing, then ventures into some dissonance, particularly on the finale before Acolyte of the One and its apocalyptic atmosphere that strikes without delay, but the tone becomes lighter for a moment. The sound remains fairly dark, then literally explodes with the very short Aeonian Wrath, which crushes us for just over a minute, then Holy Moonlight takes over with a similar goal, multiplying the mosh parts to make us want to let loose. There is another temporary acceleration for Sacred Relic, but the song slows down once again to become heavy, allowing the vocalist to deliver a Dantean performance before fading out to make way for World Gone Cold, which gives us a welcome respite before the bass rumbles again and anchors the track in Doom influences. Eucharist II: Blood Loss, the last track, is by far the longest and most experimental, totaling more than twelve minutes, featuring Sunny Faris (Blackwater Holylight) who fuels the few quieter moments that disappear to give way to screams and extreme saturation, sometimes adopting noisy parts bordering on Industrial, but one thing is certain: the sound captivates us until the very last seconds.
From raw Deathcore to Sludge and even Doom influences, The Acacia Strain has always managed to remain effective, and You Are Safe from God Here is definitely one of their most diverse albums, which will satisfy all fans of heavy violence.
90/100