“May the bodies I burn light the way.”
Over twenty years on from their inception in 2001, The Acacia Strain remains a stalwart presence in the heavy music world that continues to get better with age. The past four years have seen the veteran group in a creative renaissance, with 2019’s concept album It Comes In Waves and its subsequent release, 2020’s Slow Decay, proving to be the band’s finest and most universally acclaimed work to date. Additionally, the surprise drop of the entirely self-produced It Comes In Waves and the drip-feeding of singles via five different EPs (all together spelling DECAY) leading up to the eventual full release of Slow Decay helped to further set these two projects apart from the rest of Acacia’s discography with their unconventional release strategies.
Step Into the Light and its accompanying album Failure Will Follow continue the trend of keeping followers of the band on their toes. While Step Into the Light was announced following the release of its second single “FRESH BONES” in February, the announcement of the latter album simply arrived one month later with its own merch drop. With the announcement of Failure Will Follow, Vincent Bennett presented the framework for the overarching narrative of the two albums — “this is a split timeline. Which side of the coin did you end up on?”
Producer Randy Leboeuf and artist Caelan Stokkermans, both of whom previously worked on Slow Decay, return to help expand on the narrative and themes established by the 2020 album. In an Instagram post following the announcement of Failure Will Follow, Stokkermans further explained the dual concept for the upcoming albums:
“Step Into the Light shows us the will to survive and potential for hope. Failure Will Follow shows us death and the destruction of the natural order. Two diverging paths meant to represent humanity’s potential to persevere and transcend or destroy itself…The general idea was to have two albums, one a metaphor for human potential and the other for human destruction.”
With all this in mind, it’s easier to understand Step Into the Light and Failure Will Follow as the next installments in the journey following humanity’s “collective descent into madness” presented by Slow Decay. In the case of these three albums, the narrative ties that bind them only serve to strengthen each project, rather than limit them in scope or execution. The distinct creative vision shared between all those involved—from Randy Leboeuf and Caelan Stokkermans, to Vincent Bennett and his co-conspirators in Devin Shidaker (lead guitar), Mike Mulholland (rhythm guitar), Griffin Landa (bass), and Kevin Boutot (drums)—provides both Step Into the Light and Failure Will Follow with the foundations needed to effectively continue and build upon the narrative The Acacia Strain has crafted.
For the purposes of this review, the side of the coin I’ve ended up on is Step Into the Light. Upon its announcement, the tracklist was notable for containing ten tracks, all with relatively short runtimes. The record does indeed move quickly, with moments of respite few and far between. The steady stream of violence The Acacia Strain unleashes upon the listener is unrelenting — just as you think you’re starting to get comfortable, you’re thrown headfirst into the next track or into a crushing breakdown section. But despite the quick pace of the album, the contained violence within each offering of Step Into the Light indelibly leaves its mark on the listener.
The guitar tandem of Shidaker and Mulholland is steady and jagged one moment, and frenzied and suffocating the next, with tracks like “CALF’S BLOOD”, “OPEN WOUND”, and “IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING” exemplifying the best of both sides of the spectrum. Additionally, “CALF’S BLOOD”, “OPEN WOUND”, and “UNTENDED GRAVES” employ some of that heavy groove that Acacia has been known to incorporate into their music. The group’s rhythm section made up of Landa’s sludgy bass tones and Boutot’s reliable drumming more than pull their own weight, too. Landa really shines on cuts like “FLOURISHING”, “SINKHOLE”, and “UNTENDED GRAVES”, his muddied bass helping to further enhance and add some grit to each track’s atmosphere. When Boutot isn’t clamoring his way across the decaying wasteland at breakneck speeds, he is patient and restrained, briefly biding his time until his next violent, cacophonous outburst.
The sole remaining member from the original Acacia lineup, Vincent Bennett holds fast to his place as one of the most distinctive voices in the genre. Bennett’s commanding roar is the perfect vehicle for the frontman’s trademark cynical and misanthropic lyricism. His guttural bellow has never sounded better, allowing him to expertly usher the listener into the various punishing breakdown sections scattered across the record. His higher, more shrill vocals on tracks like “CALF’S BLOOD”, “TEETH OF THE CURSED DOG”, “OPEN WOUND”, and “NONE OF US ASKED TO BE HERE” additionally allow him to flex the duality of his talent, as well.
Bennett isn’t the sole voice on this record, however, as both the shortest and longest tracks on the album each see him paired with a guest feature. Third and final single “CHAIN”, with a runtime just over one minute long, sees Jacob Lilly of Chamber matching Bennett’s furious roaring with his own harsh rasp. Clocking in at nearly four minutes long, “SINKHOLE” sees Josef Alfonso of SUNAMI with one of the catchiest and most memorable sections on the entire record, culminating in a mean “fuck you, die slow!”
Once again in spite of the brief track lengths across the record, Step Into the Light is full of many such memorable lyrical moments — some of which even carry over to Failure Will Follow. Leadoff single “UNTENDED GRAVES” notably bridges the gap between the two records the most. The lyrics “my love will be felt, praying for heaven but begging for hell” and “this sadness will last forever” from the track’s ending breakdown were instantly memorable for me upon my first listen of the single, and their recurrence in Failure Will Follow helps further strengthen the split timeline concept of the two records.
While I thoroughly enjoy this record for what it is, my sole criticism of Step Into the Light would have to be on the mixing end of things. With Vincent Bennett at the top of his vocal game right now, I do find it a shame that his vocals are so buried in the mix. While Bennett’s voice never fails to pack a punch, I do think some of the vocal moments across Step Into the Light would feel more impactful if you didn’t have to dig as deep for them. On the other hand, though, I can also appreciate the creative decision to have his vocals feel more muddied and caught in the frenzy, so I’m willing to chalk this one up to personal preference.
Step Into the Light is a brief, yet grisly and triumphant romp through the punishing and unforgiving apocalyptic world The Acacia Strain have created. The album strikes a strong balance between brevity and brutality, and expertly bridges the gap between Slow Decay and Failure Will Follow. Paired with its counterpart album, Step Into the Light is an exemplary display of the group’s duality and versatility. The refined creative direction and continual musical evolution spearheaded by Vincent Bennett have propelled The Acacia Strain ever forwards and upwards, with no signs of the group slowing down anytime soon.
9/10
Step Into the Light, as well as Failure Will Follow, are both out this Friday May 12th via Rise Records, with album pre-orders and merch available here.