Hailing from Chicopee, Massachusetts, The Acacia Strain may get lumped in with the metalcore scene but they bring new depths of brutality to the sound. Downtuned guitars and guttural vocals combined with riffs heavy enough to sink an aircraft carrier make for an overall more crushing sound than many of their metalcore counterparts.
Speaking of “counterparts”, Hamilton, Ontario hardcore crew of that very name may have played Montreal multiple times in their eight years together but, as frontman Brendan “B” Murphy acknowledges, the shows keep getting better and better. And tonight, it’s clear that many in the nicely filled out venue are here as much for Counterparts as they are for the headliners.
The pit is a sea of flailing bodies and windmilling arms as the band hammer out their franticly paced songs, Murphy pacing the stage and sharing vocals with the front rows whilst his bandmates remain fairly stationary as they lay down the riffs and beats. At times it begins to feel a little predictable but there’s no denying that Counterparts are slick at what they do and they go down extremely well with tonight’s crowd.
After a very short break, the lights go down and those recognisable sludged-out riffs announce the arrival of The Acacia Strain. By now the room is almost full and the crowd instantly go collectively batshit as Human Disaster pounds from the speakers. Frontman Vincent Bennett is a formidable character with a vocal style closer to death metal than hardcore. Despite the dark lyrical content and inelegant sound, he performs with a comforting glint in his eye that lets you know that we’re all here to have fun and to get lost in the music.
Bennett dedicates the whole set to the band The Ghost Inside who recently suffered an horrific bus crash. The crash left two people dead and the band members are still recovering in hospital. He encourages us to send them messages to let them know we’re thinking of them and the sentiment gets an enthusiastic response from the fans here tonight.
Cauterizer, taken from last year’s Coma Witch album, sounds every inch the relentless dark juggernaut as Bennett screams “we were born to be unloved” into the faces of his fans. Tactical Nuke ends things on an even heavier note, band members dragging the doom-laden riffs out long after their frontman has left the stage.
The Acacia Strain’s brand of metalcore/deathcore may sound like the soundtrack to the end of the world but tonight they manage to leave a crowd of metalheads smiling and satisfied. If the aim was for everyone to have fun and forget the outside world for a few hours, then mission accomplished!
Review and photos – Steve Gerrard
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