CD review: The Acacia Strain, Wormwood

Again, it's not a blindingly original sound by any means. But the musicians make good use of those characteristics that lend The Acacia Strain a certain unique aural identity, and the greatest among those--a willingness to slow things down far beyond standard mid-tempo metal rhythms--is on ominous display throughout Wormwood, grinding to fine effect. Where too many bands cut the breakneck death-metal gallops into a chunky half-time riff for a few measures and call it good, The Acacia Strain constantly drops the bottom out of the BPMs to settle into a gristly, gritty, gnarly dirge, stretching out the space between explosive notes to produce a disquieting tension that, when it's at its best, is damn near physically uncomfortable. "The Hills Have Eyes," "BTM FDR," "Bay of Pigs" and "Tactical Nuke" all build to transcend screamo sameness not on the strength of sheer power or technical complexity, but because of these murky pulled-taffy evocations of slow-motion decay. And here, it's more than enough to get fans through to the next spark of individuality in an otherwise drearily redundant genre.

3 stars