Chicopee, MA · deathcore · metallic hardcore

The Acacia Strain

2 upcoming festivals ↓

Punishingly slow, tuned-into-the-floor heaviness with Vincent Bennett's misanthropy on top — doom tempos, hardcore intent, heaviness as a moral position.

The Acacia Strain started in Chicopee, Massachusetts in 2001 among high school friends, with vocalist Vincent Bennett joined by guitarist Christopher Daniele, drummer Ben Abert and bassist Karrie Whitfield; guitarists Daniel Laskiewicz and Daniel Daponde came aboard shortly after. Bennett has remained the band's only constant member through numerous lineup changes since. Their debut album, ...And Life Is Very Long, came out on Devil's Head Records in 2002.

Their music combines deathcore and metallic hardcore with very low tunings and a heavy reliance on slow, grinding tempos, and later records have moved further toward sludge and doom textures. AllMusic has described their approach as a triple-guitar assault built on a bone-crushing rhythm section, comparing its unchecked aggression to Sepultura and Pantera.

Releases including Continent, Wormwood and Death Is the Only Mortal established their reputation for weight over speed, part of thirteen full-length albums released over more than two decades. The band, now based in Albany, New York, is currently signed to Rise Records. Bennett has at times pushed back against the deathcore label itself, saying he only sometimes agrees with it.

Bennett's bleak, plainly worded lyrics are a consistent feature, circling around misanthropy and nihilism. He has said the misogynistic and sexually deviant imagery in his writing functions mainly as metaphor, keeping the songs' meanings open to interpretation. Cited influences include Candiria, Integrity, Dismember, Crowbar, Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Slayer, Arch Enemy and Overcast.

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deathcoremetallic hardcore