Acacia Strain

Death is the Only Mortal marks a return to form for the Acacia Strain. It's a return to their pre-Wormwood days of bludgeoning by downtempo chugs, rather than string bends. Granted their newest does occasionally droop under the weight of bends, they're incorporated much more smoothly into the band's mercilessly heavy sound. The renewed use of eery melodies under the hefty mass harkens back to the 3750 days. However, the energy is sometimes lost under the mass of the album's excess weight. "Victims of the Cave" in particular plods along at a turtle's pace, but this isn't a case of "slow and steady wins the race," as proven by the uptempo "Dust and the Helix." However, the majority of the record does take the tortoise's path to victory and proves that with this kind of music, it's really not a race at all, but a fight. And this album is certainly in the heavyweight division.