Acacia - Tills döden skiljer oss åt

Acacia - Tills döden skiljer oss åt
Acacia
Tills döden skiljer oss åt
Art of Propaganda
2013
6.5
Acacia are not new to the metal scene as they are in a way a natural continuation of their previous band Livsnekad. In 2012 they decided to change their name and here they are again, singing in their native language (Swedish) and blending doom/death & black metal features with melodic, atmospheric, dark, melancholic & gothic elements. The band consist of: Andreas Thoren on guitar, bass & vocals (ex-Shining, ex-Livsnekad), Christian Larsson on guitar, bass & vocals (Shining, Svart, ex-Apati, ex-Livsnekad), Ulf Nylin on vocals (Korpblod, ex-Livsnekad), Seiya Ogino on Piano (ex-Livsnekad), Richard Schill on drums (ex-Shining) and Moa Thoren on vocals.
 
The first track, “Död Mans Mask” can be a bit misleading as it opens the album in a very cool, melodic, atmospheric and easy way. Things are not quite that way though. The next 4 songs (the album contains 5 songs in total) are long (avg 14 min each) and you are going to listen to an “orgy” of extreme, melodic, acoustic, atmospheric & metal music. From the beautiful “operatic vocals”, the harmonious piano themes, up to the death growls, the doom “haunted” brutal vocals & the “evil” black metal passages. You see Scandinavians are very skillful at creating cold, damned, extreme, melodic & atmospheric albums due to their weather and so this band lives up to that legacy. The only thing that holds me back from experiencing this album in full is the language barrier. I believe their deciding to sing in Swedish is somewhat unfair for those that do not speak Swedish. In that way, they do not give you the chance to totally get into the album. It’s their decision though and I respect it but that cost me a bit in attentiveness at times. Anyhow the production is great, the musicianship is excellent and the musical ideas very good in general.
 
One might argue that, musically, the band doesn’t cover any new ground but I think that’s not the case in such releases or in today’s music in general. I like the way they blend all those music genres together and they do it successfully. Not many can do it very well, in truth to be told. The Swedish language, as I said before, didn’t allow me to delve into the album so those who do not speak or understand Swedish will face that issue sooner or later. I did have a nice time listening to the album but it’s unlikely for me to get back to it due to the language thing so the rating will be lower as well for that reason only. At large, the fans who love all the above mentioned genres better not overlook it…