The Acacia Strain’s Brings Six Feet Closer to Hell tour to SOMA Music Hall in San Diego
Article and all photos by Chris Rosalejos
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Acacia Strain are on the road this summer with acts Tribal Gaze, No Cure, Ingrown and Bodysnatcher. They’ve made a stop at SOMA music hall on August 09, 2025, the 11th stop of their 22 day tour in support of their upcoming 13th studio album “You Are Safe From God Here”.
An incredible stepping stone for The Acacia Strain as the band turns 24 years old this year. The ever-evolving band has shown no signs of slowing down. I first discovered The Acacia Strain when they dropped their first single “Servant In The Place of Truth”, signing to Rise Records. This was over 13 years ago and I thought this was the heaviest band on the planet, it is still unknown to this day whether or not the band plans to play the song live or put it back up on streaming services, only time will tell.
No Cure, a straight-edge hardcore/death metal band from Birmingham, Albama, is the opening band on the bill and completely crushes it with their set. The band opens it up with the first single “Hanging From the Bible Belt” from their most recent record release “I Hope I Die Here”. This was my 4th time seeing No Cure perform, and the first to see them in California, completely delivering every single time. We might be overdue to see them back in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2nd supporting band is Tribal Gaze, a death metal band from Longview, Texas. This was my first time seeing the band live, I’ve come across the name from time to time on social media and never got the chance to check them out, underrated would be an understatement. The room continues to fill as Tribal Gaze annihilate it, song by song. These Texas death metal bands have the formula figured out, I think we can thank Pantera for that.
We have Ingrown, the following band after Tribal Gaze. Seeing a hardcore trio performing on a “big” stage in a music hall with lightning was a monumental experience. I’ve only ever seen this band perform in small rooms but this trio with their quick riffs and “two-steppy” sections expanding to the crowd of The Acacia Strain fans was phenomenal. Their songs are short but this should not discourage you from checking them out, especially with their latest record release “Idaho”. Ingrown’s guitarist and vocalist, Ross Hansen facial expressions, jumps and kicks make the hardcore band a fun experience to watch.
I don’t think I know any band that’s heavier than Bodysnatcher to come out of Florida, with the band fronted by Kyle Medina forming the band at 17 years old, this deathcore band is on it’s way to the top. The room was more than halfway full, as the band opens their set with “E.D.A.” from the record “Bleed-Abide”. This song is fast, it has two step parts and an explosive breakdown in the middle transitioning into a 2nd breakdown that slows down. The band ends their set with “King of the Rats”, if you know this song and you’ve seen this band perform it live, then you know the crowd yells the explicit one-liner back at the vocalist, videos of this can be found mostly on Youtube.
The Acacia Strain, the headlining act and the last band to perform to end the night, opens their set with “Human Disaster”. I’ve seen live videos of this band performing “The Beast” first and to not hear it as the opener was a surprise. The setlist was a mixture of old and new songs, especially “A Call Beyond”, the new song from their upcoming record release “You Are Safe From God Here”.
“The Beast” is The Acacia Strain’s most known song, and the most played song on Spotify with over 10 million plays worldwide, the crowd screaming the lyrics back at the vocalist was a surreal experience, while not everyone is screaming the lyrics, everyone in the romm can definitely hear it. For the band to transition to “The Hills Have Eyes” and ending the night with “Carbomb” was absolutely dangerous, for me and everyone around me. I’ve never seen so much water get tossed to the crowd in my life.
