siLLy puPPy ACID BATH was one of those 90s metal bands that was too eclectic for its own good and despite existing from 1991 to 1997 released two groundbreaking albums that mostly fell on deaf ears during the band’s existence but has slowly but surely attained the status of best metal bands of all time after three decades of retrospect. Forged out of the ashes of the two bands Dark Carnival and Golgotha, ACID BATH was born in 1991 in the small city of Houma, Louisiana situated southwest of New Orleans. The band’s career might’ve taken off however the death of bassist Audie Pitre in 1997 from a car crash pretty much ended any aspirations of continuing. Despite it all, ACID BATH’s two albums have become modern metal classics.

Best known by some as that metal band that used the artwork of serial killer John Wayne Gacy and suicide proponent Dr Jack Kevorkian for its cover art, ACID BATH has been typically lumped into the world of sludge metal for its Melvins inspired sludge metal riffing and Eyehategod bleakness, ACID BATH was so much more with influences from the contemporary world of grunge, alternative metal, stoner metal and even death metal. The debut WHEN THE KITE STRING POPS emerged in 1994, right at the time when grunge bands and their metal hybrids were ruling the roost in the world of popular metal and hard rock. Possibly stunted by not emerging from the Seattle scene, ACID BATH’s debut may have gone mostly unnoticed but was one of those silent revolutionary albums that mixed various musical styles seamlessly.

In many ways ACID BATH was the quintessential 90s band that encompassed many of the trends that were dominating the music world. As “The Blue” opens this lengthy album of 14 tracks that add up to 69 minutes of playing time, the tripped out feedback reminiscent of stoner metal bands like Kyuss add spice to the sludgy downtuned bass and guitar riff driven grooviness. Alternating between a heavier sludge metal style of Eyehategod with obnoxiously screamed vocals and less intense clean vocal segments that evoke the Jethro Tull inspired singing style of Psychotic Waltz’ Buddy Lackey, WHEN THE KITE STRING POPS can’t be accused of being tedious as it consistently shape shifts from pseudo-death metal inspired aggression to Alice In Chains inspired melodic and soulful alternative metal grunge. The all acoustic track “The Bones of Baby Dolls” is right out of the Alice In Chains unplugged playbook.

Despite the myriad stylistic approaches throughout WHEN THE KITE STRING POPS, the most ubiquitous feature of ACID RAIN is the strong dueling guitar effect with one guitarist delivering strong alt metal grunge riffing while the other accents with contrapuntal grooves, licks and occasional lead outbreaks. The star of the show has to be vocalist Dax Riggs who displayed a firm command of the soulful grunge vocal style and was on par with the greats of the era such as Chris Cornell of Soundgarden or Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley. Throughout the course of the album Riggs animates the sludgy stoner grunge metal with a diverse roster of screams from the world of sludge metal, shouts courtesy of hardcore punk, sensual clean vocal styles sounding like a dead ringer for Psychotic Waltz as well as emulating Alice In Chains itself yet while displaying obvious influences ACID BATH managed to craft something totally of its own making.

Perhaps the only downfall of WHEN THE KIT STRING POPS is that of its unwieldy playing time and despite not hosting a single turkey of a track, can be a bit to sit through in one go as the tracks do tend to feature recycled motifs and musical processions however when music is this fantastically good it’s also a treat to simply get more! This is one of those grower albums because after the first listening experience i failed to get all the hype behind it but after the strong melodies and subtle arrangements began to sink in it really got under my skin. My experience is probably the same of many others as by the end of the 90s the album had only old a mere 37,000 copies in the USA but since then has become one of the most revered metal albums of the entire 90s. The band only released one more album, the equally revered “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” two years later before disbanding but the band’s two albums were of such high quality that it guaranteed a slot in the highest ranks of metal history for time immemorial.

SilentScream213 One of the most eclectic Metal albums of its time, and certainly not something I expected from the Sludge Metal genre. About half the songs are true Sludge Metal, and even those are rife with other influences, namely Stoner and Avant-Garde Metal. Then there’s a bunch of straight Stoner Metal, some Acoustic Rock, Folky stuff… At times it really sounds like if First Utterance was a Metal album.

The music itself is pretty straightforward, it’s just combined in ways that make it less conventional. The lyrics on the other hand, are absolutely nonsensical and bizarre. The overall package is most certainly a decent representation of a mentally ill psycho going through drug addled hallucinations.

At over an hour long, the variety definitely helps differentiate the songs and retain interest. The album does a good job of switching between speedier, aggressive material and slower or gentler songs, keeping the pacing even. Unfortunately, while surprisingly consistent for the variety and length, it doesn’t have many great songs. Most of them are good with a few standouts like “Cassie Eats Cockroaches” and “Scream of the Butterfly,” but there’s nothing here I care to return to in the future.

Warthur Boasting Jon Wayne Gacy cover art and an incredibly appropriately dirty and sludgy production, Acid Bath's debut album offers up crushingly heavy sludge metal whose subject matter, as you might guess from the cover, combines the jocular with the morbid. (Dr. Seuss Is Dead is outright terrifying.) Dax Riggs' vocals can take the strangest subject matter and make it sound deadly serious, especially in the context of the doleful sonic territory explored by lead guitarists Sammy Duet and Mike Sanchez. At points it's almost psychedelic, a bad trip into dark territory. As far as the 1990s pioneers of sludge metal go, Acid Bath certainly don't deserve to be overlooked.

UMUR "When the Kite String Pops" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Louisiana based metal act Acid Bath. The album was released through Rotten Records in August 1993 and rather controversially features cover artwork painted by Illinois serial killer John Wayne Gacy, while he was in prison waiting to be executed for his crimes. Acid Bath was a relatively shortlived act who was active between 1991 and 1997 and released two studio albums in that time. The band broke up as a consequence of the death of bassist Audie Pitre, who was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver.

Stylistically the music on "When the Kite String Pops" is really hard to describe in a suiting manner, because you´ll find everything from stoner rock/metal, sludge metal, hard rock, alternative rock/metal, thrash (even a few death) metal leanings, doom metal, punk/hardcore, and other stylistic elements thrown together to form a very original sounding music style. The eclectic songwriting approach is not completely unlike what you´ll hear on a System of a Down album, but that´s how far the comparison goes.

The music is dark, filthy, raw, and at times ultra heavy (check out the sludgy doom metal riffing on "Dr. Seuss Is Dead"), featuring both clean and distorted raw vocals. Dax Riggs is an incredibly skilled vocalist and his sedated "Layne Staley meets Jim Morrison" type clean vocals and aggressive screaming ditto are delivered with fierce passion and conviction. The band are exceptionally well playing, especially considering that "When the Kite String Pops" is a debut album, and they really manage to make the listener feel their anger, frustration and sadness through their playing and through the adventurous songwriting.

Another asset on "When the Kite String Pops" is the well sounding, hard hittin´ and raw sound production, which brings out the right dark and powerful emotions in the music. The album is 69:10 minutes long and features 14 tracks, and while such a long playing time isn´t always a success, this is one of the exceptions to that rule, as it´s an entertaining and ever changing album throughout the playing time. Overall it´s just a really intriguing and unique sounding release and it´s nearly a mandatory listen for the open minded metal listener. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

thellama73 A disturbing and thrilling slice of southern sludge metal, Acid Bath's debut has really got a sound all its own. As the cover painting by serial killer John Wayne Gacy might suggest, this is pretty dark even by metal's standards. The guitars are low and totally fuzzed out, and the production is somewhat flat, making me feel like it was recorded in a dank hole in the ground somewhere.

The vocals alternate between clean and dirty, with the clean vocals being chillingly drugged out and emotionless. The songs are very strong on the whole. "The Blue" is about as catchy as you can expect music of this kind to get, and weak moments are few and far between (I don't like Cheap Vodka that much, but that's about it.)

Sadly, the band only had one more album before breaking up. It's a shame, because they really work well as a group and I bet they could have produced a lot more great metal given the chance.

When the Kite String Pops is a perfect album for when you're in a nasty mood.