Review Summary: 115 breakdowns, 115. can your head even handle that?
23 of 33 thought this review was well writtenI’m trying my hardest to find ways in explaining how horrendous
Wormwood is without attacking the many who have come to find enjoyment from this literal mess. Alas, I cannot because the only reason I can seem to find as to why people would is that it’s fun! Uh, ok? It just so happens that this reasoning also applies to those who partake in meth; coincidentally both kill. Now, before this review comes across as a spiteful rant I would like to acknowledge that The Acacia Strain have succeeded in something with this release, which by the way is devoid of any music talent, breaking sh
it down. Yeah, you know all that progression metal was able to make up till now despite its crippled limbs metalcore and deathcore? Well The Acacia Strain could honestly give less of a fu
ck. Of course it’s possible that the band believed somehow incorporating
every single stereotype that metal and its ubiquitous sub-genres have derived thus far they would in some way wash away the stains; except that doesn’t make any sense. So cue the confusion ‘cause that’s all
Wormwood accomplishes to be.
First things first, I understand the importance of breakdowns, and how essential they are to the genre The Acacia Strain are “creating”. For the less inclined this fallacy is called heavy a.k.a deathcore; here it is straight from the horses mouth "
I have said it a couple of times: deathcore is the new nu-metal. You see the same kids and the same ethic. It sucks. And if anyone calls us “deathcore” then I might do something very bad to them. We aren’t deathcore. We are heavy. Any band that calls THEMSELVES deathcore should not be writing music. It just goes to show you that the weak minded need to label things.". Still, there has got to be a limit established because this excessiveness is getting out of hand. If I fill my car tank up passed it’s fourteen gallon limit until gasoline is suffusing from the tank and all across the lot does it enhance my vehicles performance? Can my car now fly? Has it gained the ability to swim under or above water? Will it even deliver me to my destination at a faster rate? If you answered yes to any of these questions you may in fact be a member of The Acacia Strain.
You see the most depressing aspect of this band is how the entire musical endeavor can be summed up within one paragraph. Surely this band is gunning for a record in regards to just how many breakdowns occur on
Wormwood. To put things in perspective album opener “Beast” includes eight breakdowns all spanning a frame of thirty to forty-five seconds. So let’s do the math; with a track length of four minutes minus the unnecessary one minute intro you should get the equivalence to utter trite. Now multiply that with twelve tracks in total and you get an album with a minimum of ninety six breakdowns otherwise known as “holy sh
it are you kidding me?”. If you can’t tell by now this creates a problem. Essentially whatever musical competence the band has is
raped from them in order to brodown. Everything, of course, is in half time and the guitars do not try branching their riffs out from the verses or choruses or whatever stanza it is they’re playing, because every transition within each song is near indecipherable – “The Hills Have Eyes”, “Terminated”, “Jonestown”.
“Ohhhh but it’s so heavy my house got leveled”. First of all no it didn’t. Second of all it’s nay impossible to take anything these guys do seriously when they have eight breakdowns per song, and their lead vocalist Vincent Bennett doesn’t believe in range. What he does believe in however is choking. Every word uttered by him is inaudible, and not that “oh wow that’s a cool deep low / scathing high he’s got going on there”; no it’s more like the “I can’t understand a fu
cking word this guy is saying, when is this guy gonna take that dick out of his throat?” kind of voice. Ironic because there’s a "myth" about there being a line about choking on dicks on one of these tracks.
In short they get an extra .5 for the simple fact that they’ve got this terribleness down to perfection, and its sure to be a hit at the Mayhem Festival – if that’s even still happening.
