» Blog Archive Acid Bath - A NOLA band with an unfortunate demise -
Deuce Hard Music, News

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If you’re familiar with the New Orleans style of metal known as Sludge, and have an ear for the rumblings from the underground then Acid Bath is a band that should definitely be on your radar. If you’ve never heard of them then I suggest you find their albums, lock yourself in a room for a couple of days an embrace the band that met their demise before their time was due.
Acid Bath was the NOLA project featuring Sammy Pierre Duet (now of Goatwhore) on guitars, Dax Riggs on vocals, Audie Pitre on bass, Mike Sanchez on guitars and Jimmy Kyle on drums. Unfortunately, in 1997 Audie was killed in a car accident ending the bands short lived career after only 2 albums. Although the band never made it to the mainstream, their style is closely matched to that of Soilent Green in their ability to relentlessly switch back and forth from frantic hardcore influenced blasts to sludge/doom sections and interludes that leave you having to choose between wanting to slit your wrists or someone’s throat. Aside from their instrumental ability, Dax’s vocals have a sorrowful, tormented sound that rounds out the bands identity. Often switching from screams to heartfelt singing, his voice brings meaning and depth that make his lyrics sounds like the poems of death.
Their first release, “When The Kite String Pops,” can bring an uneasy feeling just by looking at the album art which is borrowed from serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Pop in the CD (yes I said CD, we’re talking old school here, so give the band its due by listening to them on the proper format) and you’re met with a brief wall of feedback that kicks off into “The Blue.” Showing off their mettle right from the start, this opener displays their aforementioned abilities by starting with a sludgy begging that picks up speed as it drives on home. If you’re not yet convinced, keep listening because the songs “Jezebel” and “Scream Of The Butterfly” falling about the middle of the album highlight their hardcore and sludge style individually in each song. “Jezebel” is violent and unrelenting in its twisted tail of a girl in the throes of death while “Scream Of The Butterfly” could easily be the soundtrack of a bad acid trip. The album closes with the perverse “Cassie Eats Cockroaches.” Its odd sexual references twist with just enough violence to make your skin crawl.
Their sophomore and final effort, “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” starts up with the song “Paegan Love Song” and the opening line “Dying felt so goddamn good today.” It’s kind of ironic that this line opens the last album they ever released (not counting the demos album released later down the road) in the year before Audie was killed. There’s several songs on this effort to highlight including “Graveflower,” “New Death Sensation,” and “Dead Girl.” Each of these highlights Acid Bath’s more subdued almost acoustic side and Dax’s singing ability. There are moments in each of these songs that truly define why this band had so much potential. All of them sound as if they could have been written around a campfire deep in the swamp during a late night jam session. “Dead Girl” is the best of the 3 and yields two lines of lyrics that are eternally quotable, “When Death sleeps, it dreams of you” and “The sound of the ocean is dead, it’s just the echo of the blood in your head.” My favorite track of the album and maybe of all that is Acid Bath is “Diab Soule.” With yet another memorable line “Well the skyscrapers look like gravestones from out here” and an incredible groove, this song is a defining moment of their short career.
So why write about a band that is no longer together? The answer is simple. They were an incredibly talented group of musicians that didn’t last long enough to receive the notoriety they deserved and truly represent that which is the NOLA underground.

–Deuce \m/

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