Dr. Acula

Nation

Written by: PP on 22/11/2012 23:03:23

Dr. Acula used to be the epitome of everything that's wrong with the modern heavy music scene. Writing generic deathcore spliced with juvenile humour and borderline idiotic lyricism in songs like "Currently Sexting", they really represented the worst of the genre on "Slander" last year. Since then, however, the band has grown up significantly and have moved away from the basic chug-chug formula somewhat, integrating more nuanced songwriting into their br00tal songs to avoid the pitfalls of that album, consequently sounding like they have something more to offer than genericore on their newest effort "Nation".

For starters, the stupid guttural growling found on "Slander" has been cut to a minimum, with more yell-based screaming and standard growling taking its place. But perhaps more importantly, the guitars have moved from one chord chugging into more dynamic leads, even melody at times, as the Comeback Kid-inspired album highlight "Ironic Enclosure" will show you. It's a drastic improvement and one that immediately makes the songs more interesting when the unnecessary down-tuned br00tal is replaced with something more meaningful. Plenty of that does exist on this album as well, of course, but not to anywhere near the same extent as in the past. So even though the vocalists still scream, yell, shout, and spit their way through the material, they have become more articulate (well, not lyrically, because those are still fucking idiotic) and clearer in their delivery. Especially the low-end shrieks sound excellent here.

Overall "Nation" is a huge improvement on "Slander", but there's still not enough identity to distinguish them from the other bands doing standard deathcore like them. It's a decent release in a genre where it's often difficult to stand out, so in that sense Dr. Acula are doing well. They demonstrate on a number of songs to be capable of so much more than the standard affair in deathcore, so hopefully they will continue to evolve towards that direction in the future.

Download: Ironic Enclosure, Dressed For Transylvania In The Boiling Weather (Lipstick Guys), Nation
For the fans of: Arsonists Get All The Girls, Attila, Chelsea Grin,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 19.06.2012
Victory Records

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