Dr. Acula - Nation

The way I see it, Victory Records today is about as victorious as an on-site paramedic working a bug party hosted by Gilbert Gottfried. So I was kind of caught off guard when I was reading the promo stuff for these guys and saw them continuously name drop their label. If I didn't know any better I'd say they actually enjoy sharing a label with bands like Emmure, which by the way, is a synonym for "bug party".

Now, the name of this band, Dr. Acula is the only thing I like about them. Why? Because nothing could summarize this album better than a "surprise!" period and awkward pause in the middle of the action you might otherwise find yourself enjoying. A cursory observation of the first minute of the title track tells you all you need to know; what we have here is detuned, tough guy sounding, ill-conceived and self-indulgent deathcore with sharts of every neighboring genre. From hackneyed djent to desperate sounding grasps at melodic death metal, these fellas try to spice things up but end up sounding forced and grandiose.

A textbook example would be the track "Dressed for Transylvania In The Boiling Weather" which starts out with some decent vocals and a (not good, but) passable intro riff. Well, about 3 or 4 different vocal timbres come crashing in after the first few measures and the track starts to feel like a crowded elevator. Then something uncomfortably melodic starts happening in the distance and you realize you don't have enough breadcrumbs to get home. Suddenly, at about 2 minutes in, Dr. Acula try and get-the-fuck-outta-dodge with a rickety, jerry rigged blast beat. Towards the end you could almost feel their frustration of being stuck in a terrible band as they hammer out a breakdown that about 19 other bands wrote beforehand.

Lyrics. Right. So I have no idea what the fuck these retards are talking about, but boss man Brickhouse wants full paragraphs so I need to figure out something to say here.... ok, got it... All Out War is a metal band from New York and they are one of the few bands that put out something good out on Victory. So, while you're waiting for me to segue into the next joke, might as well sit back and enjoy one of their songs, I'll even make it easy for you:

But seriously, I'm not joking when I say that I think there is real potential with Dr. Acula, well, somewhere amidst this embarrassment. But this being their 5th release, I don't know if they'll ever reach significantly higher levels of functioning. All I'm saying is that it is possible, or at least seems to be so with the individuals if not the band. A more disciplined approach to some of these wild tangents or just some more technical skills to match the lofty ambition would be a few good ideas. That being said, I certainly won't be listening in to see if such an evolution takes place though, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Unless you've enjoyed everything trite and contrived about heavy music for the past several years, take a pass.

Time Husk: Just read the song titles

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