The Acacia Strain with Rotting Out, Creeping Death, Chamber, and Fuming Mouth
The Acacia Strain recently made a stop at The Masquerade in Atlanta and they brought a few friends for this sold-out party. Along for the tour were Rotting Out, Creeping Death, Chamber and Fuming Mouth. ConcertHopper nestled in amongst the packed crowd to bring you our thoughts as well as photos from what was an incredibly fun evening. We hope that you enjoy.
First to take the stage were Fuming Mouth, hailing from Massachusetts. Fuming Mouth has carved their own path in the world of heavy music, blending together death metal and thrash inspirations to create their own unique sound. The band garnered critical acclaim from the metal press as well as fans with their inaugural release, The Grand Descent last year. It wasn’t log before they were gathering the claim from those in attendance at The Masquerade either as they started the show off right and inciting plenty of moshing along the way.
Next up were Nashville natives, Chamber. Having also released their first album last year, Ripping/Pulling/Tearing, the band immediately drew comparisons to other metal and hardcore heavyweights like Knocked Loose and Spite. Despite these comparisons, the band manages to inject their own fusion and uniqueness to the genre. For our money, those who had never heard most of the bands were surprised the most by Chamber who, with no frills, simply set out to melt everyone’s faces. Judging by the circle pits that ensued, we would say they succeeded.
Next up were Creeping Death who are among an onslaught of heavy bands finding their footing in their home state of Texas before unleashing their brand of metal destruction on the masses. Having previously toured with High on Fire and Power Trip, they are a versatile act, capable of blurring the lines between hardcore/post-hardcore music and more traditional metal. The band has released two albums and two singles, the latest coming last September in the form of their album Wretched Illusions. All of this gives them a larger stable of songs to play for the masses and they tore through them with vigor and energy that was infectious.
Los Angeles hardcore band Rotting Out were next to take on the stage. Immediately the band cuts an intimidating posture as the giant looming figure of frontman Walter Delgado takes to the stage, LA Dodgers hat pulled low over his eyes. Certainly, being on tour again has to feel like a second chance at life for everyone involved but perhaps none more than Delgado. It had been announced they had broken up in 2015 and the next year Delgado was arrested and served 18 months in prison (a fact which he interviewed with Kerrang about.) All of this led to what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a band thankful to be on the stage. And very happy to pour out their energy while on stage and to address issues in everyone’s daily lives while promoting a message of positivity. All of this was well received by the crowd who responded in-kind with perhaps the most aggressive and fierce moshing of the night.
Then it was time for the headliners, The Acacia Strain, to crush a home run from the tee ball all the other bands had set up for them. If there’s nothing else to be said about The Acacia Strain, they set up incredibly diverse tours when they headline affording a chance for the fans to experience new music. This tour was no exception and it seemed that the gloves were off as frontman Vincent Bennett posted on Instagram that fans were welcome to come on stage, grab the mic, scream along and to find their new favorite band, the only rule was that there were no rules. This seemed to be heard loud and clear by those in attendance as numerous times fans were on stage, quickly making their way airborne back into the crowd or leaning for an outstretched microphone from Bennett. When fans weren’t taking part in the mayhem in this fashion, they were getting blasted by Bennett’s trademark water blasts as he used water bottles from on stage like Super Soakers. In the midst of all of this, the band still managed to slam out their brutal music covering their catalog and including songs from their new album and new LP (It Comes in Waves and D respectively.) Amidst all of this Bennett implored with the crowd to push any negativity out of their lives, embrace the good and reminded everyone that they were all one big family.
The future of the tour currently hangs in the balance like so many others during this time with the Coronavirus pandemic putting much on hold. We recommend keeping an eye on The Acacia Strain’s Instagram for updates. Tickets for the shows still planned can be purchased at https://www.ticketmaster.com/the-acacia-strain-tickets/artist/1023801.
March 15 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ 1720 * (Canceled due to Corona Virus.)
March 16 – Berkeley, Calif. @ Cornerstone * (Canceled due to Corona Virus.)
March 17 – Portland, Ore. @ The Hawthorne Theatre * (Canceled due to Corona Virus.)
March 18 – Seattle, Wash. @ El Corazon *
March 20 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ The Greek Station
March 21 – Denver, Colo. @ Marquis Theater
March 22 – Lawrence, Kan. @ The Bottleneck
March 24 – St Paul, Minn. @ Amsterdam Bar
March 25 – Chicago, Ill. @ Subterranean
March 26 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Hoosier Dome
March 27 – Columbus, Ohio @ Skully's Music Diner
March 28 – Detroit, Mich. @ The Sanctuary
March 29 – Toronto, Ontario @ Hard Luck Bar
March 31 – Ottawa, Ontario @ The Brass Monkey
April 1 – Montreal, Quebec @ Bar Le Ritz
April 2 – Syracuse, N.Y. @ Lost Horizon
April 3 – Worcester, Mass. @ Palladium
April 4 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ The Kingsland
April 5 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Underground Arts
*No Creeping Death
As always, please feel free to browse around ConcertHopper’s website further and to check out our articles covering a wide variety of topics. Please also check us out on social media on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Life is a beautiful thing and music only adds to that beauty, make some time to get out and celebrate beauty and life with a community of like-minded individuals at a concert soon, it’s always worth the price of admission.