WSOU First Impressions: The Acacia Strain, D and E EPs

Seton Hall University’s WSOU radio is the only all-metal, all-the-time station currently broadcasting in the U.S., and has been a force in metal for decades. It’s also streamable online from anywhere in the world!

Each week, a different staff member of WSOU will share a quick review of an album they’re currently digging, right here on MetalSucks. Enjoy!

The Acacia Strain, D and E EPs

The Acacia Strain have been busy these past couple of months with the release of two separate EPs, D and E. What happened to A, B, and C?

Both of the new EPs deliver high-quality, fun tracks, despite each being only two songs long. Starting with D, “Feed a Pigeon Breed a Rat,” the first song, greets you with some quiet rhythmic tapping before going into some heavy instrumentals for the rest of the song. Now that the fast-paced theme of the EP has been established, “Seeing God” (feat. Aaron Heard), continues the pace. Overall, D is almost exclusively something for you to headbang to.

If you’re expecting more crazy tracks from E, though, you might struggle to find them. E is a lot slower in nature, establishing and continuing a pulsating tempo, with hanging guitar notes and more emphasis on the way Vincent Bennett delivers his lyrics. In the second song on E, “The Lucid Dream” (feat. Jess Nyx), Nyx is a great addition who enhances and emphasizes the slower tempo.

The Acacia Strain give us some of their best here, as they always do, but D and E give us a chance to choose what kind of rocking out we’d like to for the next six to eight minutes.

– Amalia M.