| Bands: | The Acacia Strain |
| Release: | You’re Safe From God Here |
| Genre: | Metalcore/Sludge |
| Country: | USA |
| Release Date: | 24th of October, 2025 |
| Released via | Rise Records |
The uncrowned kings of downtempo heavy hardcore have returned once again with their 13th album You Are Safe From God Here. And with a discography as extensive as The Acacia Strain, surely some might question the relevance of another record about absolute despair and nihilism, forced upon you through (mostly) absolutely punishing and ultra-aggressive 3 minute outbursts. After listening to the full record though, you can’t help but waive these concerns completely. Here’s why.
To elaborate a little bit on why and how the originators of “chug-core” manage to stay relevant and interesting roughly 25 years since their inception, it makes sense to take a look back on their journey. After making a name for themselves with their first releases of chug heavy and rhythm-centered, nihilistic downtempo Metalcore being released in the first half of the 2010s, the band kind of hit a roadblock after the release of their critically acclaimed and fan-favorite Wormwood.
Their following releases still offered some quality mosh soundtracks throughout, but didn’t do much to differentiate themselves from previous releases (safe for little experiments such as the doom-track “Observer” on Coma Witch). The band was known for their constantly battering, pit-friendly mid-tempo tracks, which were still tastefully done, but lacked real excitement or adventurous songwriting.
That changed with their 2019 output It Comes In Waves, where the band seemed to have found a new spark and tastefully delivered a single 30 minute epic, sequenced into separate songs that seamlessly provided a much greater emphasis on atmosphere and dynamics than usual. While Acacia always had flirted with other influences such as Doom and Sludge it was that record they fully embraced these ingredients and turned it into something great.
With renewed drive and vision, Acacia, still lead by none other than Vincent Bennett, published three quality releases afterwards that offered a much brighter sonic palette than before. The yin-and-yang records Step Into The Light (straight forward ass beater) and Failure Will Follow (heavy Doom) in 2023 the rose the question on how the band would pick up from there. You Are Safe From God Here answers that question.
Clocking in at approximately 38 minutes sequenced into 12 songs, “eucharist i: Burnt Offering” wastes no time showing you that daddy’s home. After a Crowbaresque Bass Intro, the album title is hammered into your brain from a distant before Vincent and the gang let loose. People who enjoyed the more straight-forward and faster approach of Step Into The Light will appreciate the album’s more ripping nature, where tempos are more often switched and increased as on previous albums. Of course (of course) these faster sections are interplayed with absolutely menacing breakdowns, disgusting vocals and memorable one-liners (see pre-released single “A Call Beyond”).
“Swamp Mentality” also showcases the bands Death Metal influences in the riffing and drumming departments with tremolos and heavy blasts before crushing your skull with another stank-face inducing beatdown section. And although no god might be here, he would state: no pit shall be safe.
Unsurprisingly, this trend and scheme continue throughout the album’s further runtime. But what separates this record, which sonically is a mix of their two previous albums, from their previous material is that there is no wasted space here. Every track is absolutely filthy and as gripping as it could be. There are always little additions and twists like the grind-infused beginning of “Aeonian Wrath” or the haunting synths of “Mourning Star” that emphasize the desperation and Hopelessness the band wants you to feel, that really add to the record’s dynamics.
Technically, every member of the band is on top of their respective game here. Vincent Bennett sounds absolutely vicious, offering even more variety than before; the rhythm section pounds you into dust and the riffs make you feel like you are being suffocated.
The biggest surprise comes with the final “eucharist ii: Blood Loss”. Here The Acacia Strain once again explore their love for doom-and-gloom longtracks, offering a truly haunting atmospheric beast that features several twists and turns, such as haunting, female vocals, stomping rhythms and swaggering bluesy riffs to round off a truly bleak and absurdly heavy album.
In the end, there are many things that could be said about You Are Safe From God Here but it would be a disservice to only look at it from a superficial way. It is absolutely heavy and disgusting, sure. But beneath that, there is this captivating urgency which grabs you by the throat and does not let go. This is without a doubt the band’s heaviest and most focused record to date. And that’s saying something 13 records deep into the band’s career. We’re not Safe anymore.
