Like a cobra hidden inside a jack in the box, The Acacia Strain are packing a rather vicious surprise for those who are brave enough to put "The Dead Walk" into their player of choice. Truly a coming of age record for the band, "The Dead Walk" is a severely brutal tech metal outing that bludgeons the listener into a bloody heap, gleefully utilizing both the hammer and the nail claw to ensure blood is shed.

Similar to what A Life Once Lost were able to achieve on "Hunter", The Acacia Strain have filtered the essence of Meshuggah through a screen of American metalcore; hacked its feet off to give it less mobility and proceed to mercilessly torment its wounded carcass into a volatile rage.

The albums tempo, while mostly turgid, regularly sees tsunami tidal wave style riffs destroy all in their path and then rewind backwards in abstract off-time splendor. Meanwhile, extremely punctual double-kick laden drumming pounds out serrated blasts, while wrenching vocals and meaty bass lines go to work. Topping this off are a few disembodied squeals and lingering notes that make for a creepy, almost calming ambiance.

It should be noted that all brutality all the time does make for a few stumbling blocks as the band lack momentum at certain points throughout this efforts running time. But they usually don't falter for long and regain their force of impact quickly. There's also an interesting bridge of styles too as there are some gang vocal parts and more mixed in with the predominately guitar-driven destruction. Quite clearly the art of sophisticated bloodthirsty tech metal is entering a new renaissance period and it is albums like this that are leading the charge.