Review: The Acacia Strain - You Are Safe From God Here (GC)

The Acacia Strain - You Are Safe From God Here (Rise Records) [GC]

It’s been a couple of years since The Acacia Strain released their last album, which I reviewed and gave a perfect 10 score, I have been listening to T.A.S for a very long time and they have one of the best bodies of work in the metal scene bar none their sound veers from savage and destructive deathcore to slow sludge dripping with anxiety and despair and 2025 brings us a new blast of misery in the form of You Are Safe From God Here. Brace yourselves!

As I was expecting it’s a slow and uneasy start to Eucharist I: Burnt Offering the song is full of dread and angst, slow and crushing guitars the explode into life with an almost grindcore pace before it is back to the slow and punishing pace and it’s a beautifully bleak way to get going, A Call Beyond doesn’t take its foot off your throat and continues with the mix of slower sections colliding with savage and bruising sections that on their own would be enough to make you questions why you pressed play but the way they switch between the two differing ways of smashing your face in is expertly executed.

Swamp Mentality feels like a more old school track, its nothing short of breath taking, everything is turned up to 11 and the levels of heaviness achieved should be studied and written about because it’s so good to hear a band being heavy without triggered drums or 15 guitarists its just 5 dudes being horrible and I love it! The Machine That Bleeds holds absolutely nothing back and is a relentless blasting attack with the slow sludgy parts sounding extra disgusting because of the way they hit so hard after the opening blast and it tears you another new hole at the end also, wonderfully violent and fantastically brutal as always.

Mourning Star goes for a more mid-tempo pace but is full of crunching riffs from Devin Shidaker and Mike Mulholland and a back rhythm section of Griffin Lander on bass and Matt Gugliemo on drums that grind your body down and trample on the dust they have left behind but, I have to say so far its Vincent Bennetts vocals that have been the highlight, they really have been something to else and here they sound furious and are covered in vitriol in a truly breath-taking showcase of anger and hatred. 

I Don't Think You Are Going To Make It continues the mid-tempo bleakness with another set of horrific lyrics spat at you with the background chugging and thundering away like it’s the end of the world and this is its soundtrack, another thing to be said is that not one track has overstayed its welcome, they know exactly what to do and how long to expose you to it for just the right amount of time before they hit you again.

Acolyte Of One drags and grinds its way out of the speakers and cloaks you in a horribleness, it doesn’t want to feel comfortable or safe at anytime and the main chorus has such a beautiful groove thrown in from seemingly out of nowhere and suddenly there is melody in the darkness but it doesn’t take long for this to be stamped out and Aeonian Wrath literally blast out of the speakers in just over a minute of pure bile and disgust for everything in its path, fast, furious and brutally vulgar in the best way possible. 

Holy Moonlight is a similar feel with the start being fast and to the point before it breaks down into the familiar and savage sludge tone and as always there is not a wasted second, the riffs are slow but precise, the drums hit hard and the bass rumbles through you and then from seemingly nowhere they are blasting away again and putting drops in that have no business being this heavy! 

Sacred Relic is probably the most unhinged track on the album, it just feels like total annihilation in music form, it twists and turns and throws you into different moods with every new section, its not easy to listen to and some people may even give it a miss but this is exactly what I want in music, something that makes you feel unsafe and challenges you, this song embodies that perfectly! World Gone Cold is the last of the shorter tracks on the album and it gives you one last kick in the guts as we get the familiar mix where they start slow and uneasy but are never scared to really unleash complete chaos upon you when they need to, its another pummelling and downbeat lesson in pain and discomfort.

It leads you unsettlingly into one more unnerving and brilliant tracks in Eucharist II: Blood Loss which lasts almost as long as the rest of the album on its own at 13:47 it has become something of a trademark for The Acacia Strain to end an album and turn everything completely on its head and stop the 2 minute blasts and create a sprawling and epic of unrelenting filth, this definitely one for the doom and sludge fans out there for sure but also still sticks to the principle sound that The Acacia Strain are known for and has even manages to shed dare I say it, some light within the non-stop darkness with some sections being hauntingly beautiful and overall it is a triumphant way to finish.

There was never really any doubt in my mind what the score for this record would be, as soon as I heard they were working on a new record, I requested that I could review it! I love The Acacia Strain, always have, always will but this review wasn’t just some short-sighted fanboy with rose tinted glasses, every band has albums you don’t rate and of course T.A.S are no different but here they have totally outdone themselves and served up a record that stands the test of time. 

There is enough variation and different styles to keep the pickiest of people happy and then there is the familiarity of the sound if you are an existing fan. We’re coming towards the end of the year and I haven’t heard much that has topped this so far and I’m not sure there will be anything anytime soon that will. 10/10