ALBUM REVIEW: The Acacia Strain – ‘You Are Safe From God Here’

Beyond the gates to oblivion there is only shadow. The longstanding extreme metal act, The Acacia Strain, continues to impress. The band’s nihilistic themes and misanthropy injected lyrics remain central to the exploration and understanding of darkness through the human experience. You Are Safe From God Here ventures unphased into the utter depths. The album brings further existential questioning, but also catharsis and togetherness in the most appalling of circumstances.  

Musically, The Acacia Strain wade straight through genre boundaries to produce their own murky arrangements of extreme music. Gloomy doom and sludge influences enhance the textures of the music while hardcore unleashes a striking fury. You Are Safe From God Here includes 11 intense tracks, all presented in short sharp servings. The magnum opus 12th track, at almost 14 minutes in length, is an immense and all-encompassing passage through emotion, death and decay.  

The album emerges with eucharist i: BURNT OFFERING. You Are Safe From God Here is steeped in chaos and pain, and the opening track aptly establishes the tone for this with the initial focus placed solely onto the sludgy bassline. Building a sense of anticipation, the ferocious intensity of the first strike kicks off the full-band arrangement. Dynamically shifting through different instrumental layers, tones, textures and genre influences, eucharist i: BURNT OFFERING, and the album as a whole, do not allow the listener to become comfortable, or complacent, for too long.  

The demonic nature of A CALL BEYOND erupts into fast riffs and rhythmic chugs that carry swift bouts of movement across the track. Barely a moment to catch your breath, the next flurry of heaviness has swept along leaving nought but chaos in its wake. SWAMP MENTALITY follows suit in its path of destruction. Pummelling percussion and thrashing cymbals amidst muddied waters of intense rhythms, chugs, and obliterating guttural vocals. The brutality is increased by another notch in THE MACHINE THAT BLEEDS, with Brody King and Colin Young of God’s Hate. Additional vocal textures enhance the extreme sonic quality of the track and its otherworldly descent into the black.  

There’s a touch of the ethereal in MOURNING STAR imparted through atmospheric synths whose subtle presence is consistent behind the roaring heaviness. I DON’T THINK YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT is ruthless with an unyielding exploration of hatred in a powerful offering. Discordant and deafening, it is a slow descent into the void. All-consuming dissonance lies in wait in ACOLYTE OF THE ONE. Extreme genres collide in quick succession. With a running time of just a minute and 13 seconds, AEONIAN WRATH serves penance in one swift assault.  

The considered intensity of HOLY MOONLIGHT is utterly apocalyptic in its execution. Lashings of distortion create an enveloping sound while the haunting siren introduces a dystopian touch. Sheer chaos ensues in SACRED RELIC. Callous in its discomfort, it radiates bitterness and aggression. Desolation reigns in WORLD GONE COLD. An eerie synth opening sets the tone for the track before the cacophonous heavy hits. The cold nature of its sudden demise aptly marks the beginning of the end.  

You Are Safe From God Here concludes with eucharist ii: BLOOD LOSS, featuring Blackwater Holylight’s Sunny Faris. The instrumental arrangement teases with its slow build up. Addressing undulating emotions of grief and turmoil, the tumultuous arrangement brings moments of heartbroken serenity through clean instrumental tones and Faris’ emotive vocal. The juxtaposition of the heaviness that returns in full force exacerbates the extremity of instability in the face of the unknown.  

Not only is this an incredibly uncompromising album but it is one that strikes so deeply through its unchained exploration of the extreme. You Are Safe From God Here is punishing, unrelenting and untameable, yet in its thorough unveiling of the darkness, it is strangely comforting despite being considerably disquiet.  

For fans of: Signs Of The Swarm, Fit For An Autopsy, Face Yourself

‘You Are Safe From God Here’ by The Acacia Strain is out now on Rise Records.

Words by Holly Royle