ACID BATH — Paegan Terrorism Tactics (review)

ACID BATH — Paegan Terrorism Tactics album cover

Album · 1996 · Sludge Metal

4.5/5 · 2021-03-21
UMUR

"Paegan Terrorism Tactics" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Louisiana based metal act Acid Bath. The album was released through Rotten Records in November 1996 and it´s the successor to "When the Kite String Pops" from 1994. The two albums feature the same lineup. "Paegan Terrorism Tactics" would be Acid Bath´s last album release as they split-up in 1997 following the death of bassist Audie Pitre.

"When the Kite String Pops (1994)" was quite the diverse release and it was generally a hard release to put a label on, other than calling it a really, really heavy album with schizophrenic moments of stylistic insanity. The same pretty much applies to "Paegan Terrorism Tactics". It´s an incredibly heavy album which oozes a dark and depressive atmosphere, but also loads of frustration and aggression. The band are very well playing. They have an organic playing style and understand the importance of changing pace and dynamics throughout the album. Lead vocalist Dax Riggs is the real star here though. Not since the heyday of Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) have I heard a vocalist able to conjure up nightmarish opium dreams with an authentic intensity and great passion like Riggs does here. Damn he is a great singer with a powerful voice and the skills to use it to full effect. His lyrics are nicely abstract and gloomy too. Riggs sings both warm paatos filled clean vocal parts and distorted screaming "core" tinged parts. The latter provides the music with an extreme metal edge, but there are also some pretty raw riffs and rhythms featured on the album, which point in that direction.

"Paegan Terrorism Tactics" is overall a diverse and quite dynamic album though, and it can go from the most intense and crushingly heavy doomy grooves, to dark psychadelic tinged atmospheric parts, to semi-avant garde type section, to a track like "Dead Girl", which is best described as a bizarre singer/songwriter type track, featuring only vocals and acoustic guitar. Doom, sludge, stoner, alternative, punk, hardcore, and hard rock elements all combined into something pretty unique sounding.

One of the great assets of the album is how the tracks are constructed. While all tracks feature vers/chorus structures during their playing time, most go beyond that tried and true formula, and most feature unconventional structures and sections. The diversity of the material may initially come off as a bit stylistically inconsistent and maybe even confusing to the listener, but those ready for a sonic journey into the adventurous there is a good chance they will come away from the listening experience intrigued. Some maybe even excited...

"Paegan Terrorism Tactics" is not an easy listening experience despite parts of it being relatively accessible in nature. But the eclectic material is one of the major attractions of the album. Add to that brilliant musicianship and a powerful, organic, and raw sound production, and the album is upon conclusion a high quality release. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.