The Acacia Strain have made a career out of sprouting negativity from every orifice of their beatdown-loving asses, and naturally, Wormwood is no exception. The band have all but given up trying to create something new (you can swipe out a lot of the riffs and ideas from Wormwood with their previous works), but there’s something to be said for a band so genuinely hateful and unafraid to show it.
Wormwood effectively volleys between marginally up-tempo numbers and slow, crawling jams. The band is at its best when picking up the speed, the letting then bottom drop out, as in the case of “Ramirez” and “Nightman.” As expected, every beatdown/breakdown/mosh part is totally recycled and The Acacia Strain has to know this by now. Then again, the HC kids will eat it up like cheap tofu.
Vocalist Vincent Bennett has some not-so sunny lyrics here, usually spouting off about how he “wants everything and everyone to die” or something to that effect. It’s one of those things where just when you think the man has run out of negative things to say, here he comes, with a new batch of pissed-to-hell lyrics. And kudos for tying in the James Jones massacre in “Jonestown,” which is probably the best song here.
In the realm of hateful hardcore, no one surpasses The Acacia Strain. Since the band is spinning its proverbial wheels musically, it’s probably best we continue to harp on how jacked-off Wormwood is. Don’t listen to this after taking a nice warm bath (we didn’t) and don’t put this on prior to hanging out with your parents (ditto). There’s only so much negativity to go around. Bennett and crew have that ground covered, so let’s leave it up to them.
www.myspace.com/theacaciastrain
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)