The underground has been buzzing about The Acacia Strain for the better part of two years. The band’s last album, The Dead Walk took a lot of people by surprise. The Massachusetts band’s blend of metal precision and hardcore informed tempos definitely struck a nerve with fans when they hit the road to support the record. To help capitalize on the momentum, the band entered the studio with uber-producer Zeuss (Municipal Waste, Hatebreed) and worked on what vocalist Vincent Bennett promised to be their, “darkest” effort to date.

Continent, the resulting album, gets started with the doomsday sounds of “Skynet” which really sets the tone for the remainder of the material. The first thing that pops out is the vocals. Bennett’s sandpapered growls have never sounded as vicious as they do here. “Dr. Doom” has some of the album’s most inspired guitar playing with DL laying down the riff goodness. His chugging on “The Combine” somehow combines the mid-tempo groove of Obituary with the dissonance of bands like Converge and Century. This song in particular will surely incite kung-fu styled kicks when they play it live.

The standout track on Continent has to be “Balboa Towers” with its forward thinking arrangement and infectious bass lines expertly provided by Jack Strong. “The Behemoth” closes the album with a completely stylistic left turn showing off dynamic bursts of ambience and powerful use of space within the mix. It’s doubtful this album will get a fair shot in the eyes of the metal purists but it’s hard to argue with its potency.

Rating: 7/10
Label: Prosthetic Records
Website: www.prostheticrecords.com

By Carlos Ramirez

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 9:58 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Mike K wrote:

You tend to be very critical of metal “purists.” Sorry for having some standards.

August 11th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

Anonymous wrote:

Huge difference between “standards” and stupidity.

August 13th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

Anonymous wrote:

yeah i mean read their lyrics, it has nothing to do with metal purists or being open minded, the acacia strain is just a bad band, musically and lyrically

August 15th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

Anonymous wrote:

carlos ramirez, beaners obviously dont know metal

August 15th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

CarlosRamirez wrote:

Yeah, “beaners” don’t know metal. I wonder what Tom Araya, Dave Lombardo, Pete Sandoval, Craig Locicero (Forbidden), Black Tide, and countless others would say about that.

August 18th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

Anonymous wrote:

lol @ black tide statement

August 18th, 2008 at 11:07 pm

Anonymous wrote:

Saw this band last year at Sounds of the Underground. And thought they fucking sucked.

I am so burnt out on all these bands that do a fast death metal part, then a boaring ass breakdown part. So all the scenester fags can fling thier arms around.

Id much rather listen to the Red Chord!!

August 21st, 2008 at 2:52 pm

Ed wrote:

Screw you all this band is fucking great. and if its so bad why are you looking at reviews of its cd? i mean hell i dont like emo bands and you dont see me looking up shit on there cds cause i dont give a fuck. but yeah fuck you guys this band is great.

August 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Anonymous wrote:

I grew up/around with these guys, first cd was incredible, the dead walk? eh, but this cd has caught my attention once again. As far as the lyrics? If you have seen, or know these guys than you will understand that’s how they have always been…my cousin was thrown up on once at a show in our hometown by an old bass player…funny shit. They have many cds, someone thinks their ok.

August 28th, 2008 at 8:45 am

Mike K wrote:

I look at these reviews and make critical comments, because 99% of this site gives metal a bad name.

August 28th, 2008 at 11:05 am

The Salty Pirate wrote:

Hear that boys, Mike K is coming to clean up metal as we know it!! With nothing more than his mom’s laptop, an ipod full of obscure bands, and a dream

Come on over to TheSaltyPirate.com kiddos, where whiners are bitched out on sight

September 2nd, 2008 at 8:45 pm

Loucifer wrote:

i cant even beleve these stupid ass blogs..i dont know what im even bothering with wasting my time in a bnch of faggots who think they even know fucking music for that matter..so all you little scencester mohawk wearing douch bags need to get a life and stop bloging about shit you dont even know about

September 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 am

eternal wrote:

listen to actual metal ppl. suffocation, morbid angel, vader, napalm death, black dahlia murder, at the gates,behemoth,decapitated, necrophagist and some new bands.. y are gay bands like acacia strain even being discussed. it seems that the old bands are the ones who are actually playing actual metal these days. acacias days are numberd

September 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am

Anonymous wrote:

hey eternal, necrophagist and bdm get old quick. I listen to those bands and I listen to The Acacia Strain.

September 23rd, 2008 at 11:46 am

Anonymous wrote:

“I am so burnt out on all these bands that do a fast death metal part, then a boaring ass breakdown part. So all the scenester fags can fling thier arms around.

Id much rather listen to the Red Chord!!”

LOL the most contradictive statement EVER LAWWWL

There’s 2 good songs on this album! Listen to Sylosis!

September 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

hater wrote:

fuck all you motherfuckers.
the acacia strain is fucking raw. period.
i’ve seen them countless times and they always put on an amazing show.
i fully understand that you gay ass butt metal kids don’t quite have the mental capacity to grasp their music, so stfu you obviously don’t know what ur talking about.
don’t dis it till you go to a show and actually give it a chance.

acacia is here to stay, suck my dick. peace.

October 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

xCBDX 815 wrote:

Acacia is a bad ass band end of story! very BROOTAL I mean I much more loved it when Acacia was in the Hardcore scene more so than the metal scene where they are not understood.

October 13th, 2008 at 9:17 am

Tony wrote:

if your open-minded like me, you’ll like the acacia strain and “pure” metal bands. I listen to suffocation, morbid angel, dying fetus etc. And i listen to hardcore bands like Ceremony, Trash Talk, Bracewar etc. Dont give it a bad review cause your not into that type of music. and for all the people that hate hardcore dancing should shut the fuck up. people hardcore dance to hardcore, push mosh to metal, and skank to punk, that simple. just because your not in the scene means its stupid. respect all forms of moshing, to the outside world, it looks same lol.

October 28th, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Jesse Flip wrote:

If you’re in the mood for a heavy album, this is a good to get into.
Good review.

October 30th, 2008 at 9:03 am

Anonymous wrote:

this band sucks balls, their riffs are utter garbage, and the lyrics literally make me embarrassed for them whoever wrote this review is a douche

October 30th, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Anonymous wrote:

the new faceless cd leaked, shits all over anything on this garbage ass cd

November 11th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

ron stark wrote:

fuck all you faggets

behemoth,decapitated, necrophagist?

they all fucking suck

fuck you fuck your mother fuck your life

acacia strain rules

November 19th, 2008 at 8:39 pm

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