Golden Mixtape

Amongst my shelves filled with James Dean biographies, Goosebumps and Shel Silverstein, there are a good amount of serial killer tales. This fascination came way before I watched Dexter. There’s something about the mindset of a murderer that sparks my interest. Mostly, it’s the “why” factor of it all. Why did they snap, why those victims, why that weapon. So when The Acacia Strain’s Death Is The Only Mortal started with a 911 like call from a murder scene, I knew I had to investigate this amongst the hardcore and death metal (wait, pun intended?).

I treated the whole record like a murder case. Every song a clue…”Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow” and “Dust And The Helix” gave some insights as to if the murder was a religious based rampage. “Sorrow” mentions something about the devil, while the other talks about losing faith in the human race and one’s self saying, “We dot deserve to live. We don’t deserve to die because life I worthless.”

Every track was an evil notation as The Acacia Strain’s take on metal was dark and morbid, well in my mindset. As “Go To Sleep” played and the phrase “there is no light there is only the dark” came to life, it was ironic to think that maybe these were the last words the killer would’ve said to their victim.

Towards the end of the record the case became cold as the last couple songs weren’t as strong. Their sound overall weren’t as enticing as the rest of Death Is The Only Mortal and left me feeling underwhelmed, which is really hard to do when you have this loud, abrasive music pounding through your skull.

While I didn’t solve what I’d set out to, The Acacia Strain’s Death Is The Only Mortal offered up an interesting record for the most part. Just stay away from the end. Fans of Oceano and I Declare War will love what Death Is The Only Mortal is all about; a combination of frightening lyrics and death metal that reminds me of boys I liked in middle school that had long black hair and wore Pantera tees religiously. It’s out now, who I liked in middle school and Death Is The Only Mortal on Rise Records.