The Acacia Strain is an American metalcore band originally from Chicopee, Massachusetts. The Acacia Strain is currently signed to Rise Records. In total, the group have released ten full-length albums.
History
Forming in 2001, The Acacia Strain was started by high school friends Vincent Bennett, Christopher Daniele, Ben Abert. Looking to bring their current band Septic Orgasm to the next level of technicality, they brought in their mutual friend, Karrie Whitfield, and high school student Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz to play Bass and guitar respectively. The band began playing local shows around Massachusetts and recorded their demo in 2001. After DL received a shoulder injury while playing high school football, Vincent asked friend and current Blood Has Been Shed guitarist, Daniel Daponde, to fill in on guitar while DL healed from his injury. Daniel brought a heavier and more technical aspect to the band, so when DL returned they asked Daniel to stay, thus forming the unusual three guitar lineup. After countless local shows, including quite a few in Vincent's mother's basement, the band was approached by Toby Dutkiewicz, who ran Devil's Head records, if they would join his label. The band agreed and recording for their debut album "...and Life is Very Long" began in 2002 at Zing recording studio in Westfield, Massachusetts with Adam Dutkiewicz and Jim Fogarty at the helm with Jim doing most of the tracking.
Artistry
Musical style
The Acacia Strain's music has been primarily described as deathcore and metalcore, and has been noted to include heavy influences from sludge, doom metal and death metal along with some punk rock-style aesthetic and sensibilities. AllMusic characterizes the band's musical style as "utiliz a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore punk, noise, death metal and doom metal." The site's review of Wormwood elaborates on the band's sound as "an inelegant and unstoppable juggernaut fueled by memories of the unchecked aggression unleashed on the world by the likes of Sepultura and Pantera." The band's former bassist, Jack Strong, describes their music as "hardcore-influenced metal", Vocalist Vincent Bennett has described his dislike for the band being labeled "deathcore" and denies that their music is within the genre. Drummer Kevin Boutot also rejected the deathcore label. The Acacia Strain's influences include Candiria, Integrity, Dismember, Deftones, Rush, Iron Maiden, Crowbar, Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Slayer, Arch Enemy, and Overcast.
Lyrics
Written by lead vocalist Vincent Bennett, the band's lyrics generally center around misanthropy and nihilism. Bennett employs misogynistic and sexually deviant imagery in his lyrics, but usually only as metaphors to help get his points across while keeping the songs' overall meanings open for interpretation.
