It can be said that some bands truly embody a certain spirit or emotion. Without a doubt, Massachusetts’ long running juggernauts, THE ACACIA STRAIN, truly embody anger. And that shows more than ever on their newest full length, “Wormwood.” The band’s actual sound and vibe are more ferocious than ever on this, their fourth full length for Prosthetic Records and fifth effort overall. Even the successes of their previous full-length, “Continent,” which debuted at #2 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart in 2008 and their DVD, “The Most Known Unknown,” which debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Top Video Sales Chart in the February of its release, have not assuaged front man and lyricist Vincent Bennett’s turmoil. For “Wormwood,” the band returned to the scene of the creation of “Continent;” producer Zeus’ of Planet Z Studio in Hadley, MA, who has previously worked with the likes of Hatebreed, The Red Chord, All That Remains and more, engineered, mixed and mastered the slab of vitriol. This time around, we find guitarist, D.L. experimenting with 8 string guitars, adding further depth and low end to the band’s already stomach-turning low end sound. “Wormwood” peaked at #67 on the U.S. Billboard charts, signaling metal fans’ increasing affinity for the band’s sheer musical passion and vicious brand of heaviness. The band appeared on last year’s “Cool Tour” with As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between the Buried And Me, Blessthefall, Architects, Cancer Bats and War of Ages. The band’s extensive tour history has them on the road with acts such as Whitechapel, Unearth, Bleeding Through, Killswitch Engage, Despised Icon and August Burns Red. They have also appeared on The Sounds of the Underground Tour and will be a must-see addition to this summer’s Vans Warped Tour. THE ACACIA STRAIN were formed in 2002 in Western Massachusetts, and have gone through a variety of line ups, even, at one point having three guitars, but have played in their current incarnation since 2006. That line up consists of vocalist Vincent Bennett, bassist Jack Strong, guitarist Daniel “DL” Laskeiwitz and drummer Kevin Boutot.

Est. in Pomona, California.

Corrupt politicians, manipulative mainstream media, government surveillance, mass shootings, clean water shortages, religious warfare, aggressive agribusiness, climate change, GMOs and a whole host of mind-numbing problems certainly make it feel like humankind is “going to hell in a hand basket,” as they say. There may be nothing that can be done about it at this point. But at least we have a killer soundtrack.

Fit For An Autopsy’s Hellbound is the perfect score with which to watch the flames rise. Punishing, unrelenting and alternately both heavy and dissonant, the New Jersey metal band’s first album for Good Fight/eOne conjures visions of Nero vigorously attacking his fiddle, even as Rome was engulfed in fire all around him. Esteemed English actor Michael Caine delivers perhaps the best line in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Death metal often chooses to deal in devils, demons and horror-movie inspired gore. “Deathcore” detours into broken relationships and introspective issues, much like its scene cousins in Metalcore and alt-rock. Fit For An Autopsy blaze their own path, opting to address the dirty, gritty and grimy reality of modern day life. There’s no fantasy, no plaintive odes to lost love. This music is hell. These songs are Hellbound.

Scene queens, careerist cartoons and poseur-iffic hacks best step aside when confronted with the self-assured, art-for-art’s-sake vibe of Fit For An Autopsy. As MetalSucks observed early on: “The band’s brutal, glowering take on [deathcore] reminded [us] of the squandered potential of the genre. Hardcore grooves and swagger, when incorporated correctly, blend quite well with death metal.”

On Hellbound, Fit For An Autopsy expand upon their commanding approach to an often maligned subgenre by synthesizing the rhythmic experimentalism of Gojira, the aggressive post-Noisecore of Converge, the esoteric and meditative tribalism of Isis, a virulent dose of the New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal (At The Gates, Dark Tranquility, early In Flames), the legendary progenitors of Floridian death metal (Death, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary) and the “deathcore” acts who offer actual proficiency in the genre (Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, Whitechapel).

Each nuanced building block is meticulously assembled together to form a near-perfect modern metal masterpiece, all with the confident vibe of a group of people making the music they want to make for its own sake, trends and “hype” be damned.

There was justifiable reason to be excited about Fit For An Autopsy from the start. The rich pedigree of its core members foreshadowed the momentous music that was to come. Guitarist Will Putney is an accomplished metal producer, mixer, engineer and cowriter. Putney’s fingerprints are all over currently relevant albums from Stray From The Path, Reign Supreme, Misery Signals, Vision of Disorder, Counterparts, For Today, Like Moths To Flames, and more. Guitarist Patrick Sheridan is rightly well regarded for his work on the fretboard as well as with a tattoo machine. The rhythm section of bassist Shane Slade and Sick Drummer-approved Josean Orta is beyond formidable.

The earliest rumblings of Fit For An Autopsy emerged on a 2008 demo. The self-released Hell on Earth EP arrived the following year, eliciting interest from Guy Kozowyk, The Red Chord vocalist and Black Market Activities label honcho. Kozowyk released Fit For An Autopsy’s devastating debut, The Process of Human Extermination, in 2011. Sputnik Music paid particular attention to Johnson’s dominating presence. “The dude’s a swamp creature,” they wrote of his “absurd” (in a good way) delivery. “When you hear him scream, it’s like, ‘What the —- was that?’ You realize whatever it is would probably eat you if you ran into it in the woods.”

The group’s seething contempt for modern society is rivaled only by the sonic bombardment dropped upon the unsuspecting all over Hellbound, a record that is equal parts challenging and engaging. It’s an album designed to make people feel uncomfortable, while at the same time, counter-intuitively soothed by its catharsis. Criminals, junkies and the systems that fail them; deadbeat parents; poisoned food; BS celebrities and false idols; they’ve all led humanity here. Hellbound draws a line in the sand. It’s a declaration that even it’s all going down the proverbial drain likeminded individuals can take some solace in the expression of shared rage.

FROZEN SOULS AND BITTER MINDS…. HARDCORE FROM THE CHI-TOWN BURBS

EVERYTHING MUST DIE, Chicago three-piece grindcore that mixes elements of hardcore, death metal, punk and all forms of extreme music to create a violent, intense sound with all three members as singers. Guitarist Ryan Richards (EARTHBURNER, NO CONVICTION), bassist John Seidelmann (NO CONVICTION) and drummer Ryan Cawley (DEVANGELIST) were in search of a new sound in March of 2012, and within one month formed EVERYTHING MUST DIE, quickly recorded their TIME TO DIE demo, and went on the road as the opener for D.R.I., sharing their gear and cheap beer across the mid-west. Afterward, the trio hunkered down to perfect their sound and write new music, shredding the stage with bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE, GOJIRA, GREEN JELLY, CAR BOMB, and many more. EMD went back to Mercenary Digital Studio to record their debut album LIVE TO KILL, which was released in January 2013. In the true spirit of do-it-yourself, they made a lyric video for their song “School Shooter”, and soon after their song “SANDUSKY” was featured on a grindcore compilation album GRINDING FOR A CURE, featuring 100 bands across the world, compiled by members of Phobia and Noisear. EMD is currently grinding anywhere they can, promoting the album, writing new music, building a strong fan-base and seeking a record label to help spread the word and put EMD on a stage near you!