The Acacia Strain

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The Acacia Strain
Performing in 2014 in Essen, Germany
Background information
Origin	Chicopee, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Metalcore deathcore
Years active	2001 (2001)–present
Labels	Rise Closed Casket Activities Prosthetic Devil's Head
Members	Vincent Bennett Kevin Boutot Devin Shidaker Griffin Landa Tom Smith
Past members	Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz Christopher Daniele Daniel “Outhouse” Daponde Karrie Whitfield Jeanne Sagan Seth Coleman Ben Abert Jack Strong Richard Gomez

The Acacia Strain is an American metalcore band originally from Chicopee, Massachusetts.

The Acacia Strain is currently signed to Rise Records.^[1] In total, the group has released ten full-length albums.

History[]

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The Acacia Strain live in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2010

Forming in 2001, The Acacia Strain was started by high school friends Vincent Bennett, Christopher Daniele, and Ben Abert. Looking to bring their current band Septic Orgasm to the next level of technicality, they brought in their mutual friend, Karrie Whitfield, and high school student Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz to play bass and guitar respectively. The band began playing local shows around Massachusetts and recorded their demo in 2001.

After DL received a shoulder injury while playing high school football, Bennett asked friend and current Blood Has Been Shed guitarist, Daniel Daponde, to fill in on guitar while DL healed from his injury. The group felt Daponde brought a heavier and more technical aspect to the band, so when DL returned they concluded Deponde to stay, thus forming the unusual three guitar lineup.

After countless local shows, including quite a few in Bennett mother's basement, the band was approached by Toby Dutkiewicz, who ran Devil's Head records, if they would join his label. The band agreed and recording for their debut album "" began in 2002 at Zing recording studio in Westfield, Massachusetts with Adam Dutkiewicz and Jim Fogarty at the helm with Jim doing most of the tracking.

Artistry[]

Musical style[]

The Acacia Strain's music has been primarily described as deathcore^[2][3] and metalcore,^[4] and has been noted to include heavy influences from sludge,^[5] doom metal^[5] and death metal^[6] along with some punk rock-style aesthetic and sensibilities.^[7]

AllMusic characterizes the band's musical style as "utiliz[ing] a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore punk, noise, death metal and doom metal."^[5] The site's review of Wormwood elaborates on the band's sound as "an inelegant and unstoppable juggernaut fueled by memories of the unchecked aggression unleashed on the world by the likes of Sepultura and Pantera."^[8]

Vocalist Vincent Bennett and drummer Kevin Boutot have both denied that The Acacia Strain is of the "deathcore genre," going as far as expressing dislike for the label.^[9][10]

The Acacia Strain's influences include Candiria, Integrity, Dismember, Deftones, Rush, Iron Maiden, Crowbar, Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Slayer, Arch Enemy, and Overcast.^[11][10][12]

Lyrics[]

Written by lead vocalist Vincent Bennett, the band's lyrics generally center around misanthropy^[13] and nihilism.^[14] Bennett employs misogynistic and sexually deviant imagery in his lyrics, but usually only as metaphors to help get his points across while keeping the songs' overall meanings open for interpretation.^[13][14][15]

Members[]

Current Vincent Bennett – lead vocals (2001–present) Kevin Boutot – drums (2005–present) Devin Shidaker – lead guitar, backing vocals (2013–present) Griffin Landa – bass (2015–present) Tom Smith – rhythm guitar (2016–present)

Former Jeanne Sagan – bass (2003) Karrie Whitfield – bass (2001–2003) Ben Abert – drums (2001–2004, 2004-2005) Christopher Daniele – third guitar (2001–2005) Daniel Daponde – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–2006) Seth Coleman – bass (2004–2006) Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz – lead guitar, programming (2001–2013); rhythm guitar (2007–2013) Jack Strong – bass (2006–2015) Richard Gomez – rhythm guitar (2013–2016)

Drummer Kevin Boutot is the second-longest remaining member of the band behind vocalist Bennett. Touring musicians Mark Castillo – drums (2004) John Preston - bass (2003) David Sroka – rhythm guitar (2009) Mike Casavant – rhythm guitar (2009–2010) Tim Cavallari – lead guitar (2010–2012) Tony Diaz – rhythm guitar (2010–2012) Matt Guglielmo – drums (2018)

Timeline[]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

EPs

• Money for Nothing (2013)
• Above/Below (2013)
• The Depression Sessions with Thy Art Is Murder and Fit for an Autopsy (2016)

Singles

• "Jonestown" (2010)
• "Servant in the Place of Truth" (2012)
• "Above - Below" (2013)
• "D" (2020)
• "E" (2020)
• "C" (2020)
• "A" (2020)
• "Y" (2020)

Demos

• 2001 Demo (2001)

DVDs

• The Most Known Unknown (2010)

Music videos[]

• "Smoke Ya Later" (2004)
• "3750" (2005)
• "Angry Mob Justice" (2006)
• "Skynet" (2009)
• "The Hills Have Eyes" (2010)
• "The Impaler" (2011)
• "Cauterizer" (2014)
• "Send Help" (2015)
• "One Thousand Painful Stings" (2020)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website