Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops

A genre-defying masterpiece.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on May 10th 2020) 

 The 1990s were an interesting time for heavy music, thrash went heavily down in popularity and gave way to groove metal, while in the underground death metal was gaining more and more traction among fans of extreme music. Grunge was also one of the most popular forms of music at the time and saw a lot of success with bands like Alice In Chains mixing moody soundscapes with slow and heavy riffing. But down in the American South something very unique was taking shape, that being sludge metal, with bands like Crowbar and Eyehategod mixing together the aggressive tempos and energy of hardcore punk with thick riffing akin to that of doom metal, and creating a subgenre that while not very popular, has maintained a steady following and has seen a stream of quality releases from a multitude of bands, one of which is Acid Bath, who in 1994 released their seminal debut, When the Kite String Pops, an album that managed to flawlessly blend a multitude of genres that were popular at the time, from sludge to death metal and grunge.

The album kicks off with “The Blue”, a thick-as-molasses sludge track which does an excellent job at bludgeoning the listener with its bass driven riffs which, coupled with Dax Riggs’ stellar vocals, which range from a raspy yell to crooning akin to that of Layne Stalley create an atmosphere the likes of which is hard, if not impossible to find in most metal music.

It is then followed by the tracks “Tranquilized” and “Cheap Vodka”, which kick the tempo up a notch, with the later of which being the shortest song on the album clocking in at 2:15 and displaying some more hardcore punk sensibilities, while “Tranquilized” is a more grunge influenced song, which is exemplified by its heavy use of clean vocals throughout its runtime, with the exception of the song’s bridge and last verse.

At the album’s core lie some of its best tracks, like the quasi-death metal assault that is “Jezebel”, with its blistering double bass and crushing riffs, which make for what is arguably the most aggressive track in the entire album, which is then followed by one of 2 ballads found in the album, and what I consider to be the crown jewel of this album, “Scream of the Butterfly”, a track that despite its change in pace compared to the track that precedes it manages to not feel out of place thanks to its haunting melodies and pace which reinforce the uncomfortable atmosphere that the album creates.

The following tracks, “Dr. Seuss is Dead”, “Dope Fiend” and “Toubabo Koomi” are more straightforward sludge tracks which involve a lot of tempo changes along with a multitude of interesting drum fills, courtesy of Jimmy Kyle, who manages to keep things tasteful with his displays of technique throughout the album while also providing a steady base for the rest of the band to build upon.

The album is bookended by “What Colour Is Death”, “The Bones of Baby Dolls” and “Cassie Eats Cockroaches”, the former of which is another death metal influenced track which, which also features an interesting solo around the 1:20 mark, as well as some stop-start riffing from 2:45 onwards. “The Bones of Baby Dolls” is the second ballad of the album, one that is quite sombre and has a defeated tone to it, accentuated by the fact that the song simply fades away, unlike any other song on the album. The band then picks it up for the final track, which is another sludge number that has some obvious death metal influences and also uses some vocal samples throughout in order to supplement the suffocating and aggressive feel of it, and with that, the album ends in a manner as explosive as it began.

Lyrically the album is quite varied too, with its central themes being addiction ("The Blue", "Tranquilized", "Dope Fiend"), abuse and murder ("Finger Paintings of the Insane", "Jezebel", "Scream of the Butterfly") and some tracks talking about religion, pain and death ("God Machine", "The Mortician’s Flame", "What Colour is Death"). All of it is written in a somewhat abstract and poetic way and has some hints of dark humour sprinkled within most of the tracks, and all of that is carried by Dax Riggs’ exceptional vocal performances and his flawless alternations between harsh and clean vocals, which further elevate the songs’ lyrics.

Production wise the album is quite dynamically mixed, with every instrument getting a chance to be in the spotlight in just about every song, and it doesn’t feel like they’re fighting to be heard. The drums have a very thick sound to them and really shine in the more death metal influenced tracks (see the opening to “Jezebel”), the guitars have a thick and somewhat fuzzy tone whereas Audie Pitre’s bass can be heard at all times, not just supporting the guitars but also wandering out on its own on quite a few occasions, or even taking center stage. The vocals on the other hand have a very slight amount of distortion applied to them, but not to the point where one would think that they’re completely edited to sound the way they do (there are live performances floating around on the internet and Dax sounds just as good as he does on the album itself).

I always try to find some fault in the albums I usually listen to but this is one of the rare cases where an album is flawless front to back, Acid Bath managed to not just put a great sludge metal album but an album that is worthy of being included in discussions over what the greatest metal album of all time is. The follow-up to this, Paegan Terrorist Tactics, while also exceptional falls just short of the immaculate heights that When The Kite String Pops reaches. It’s a real shame that the band disbanded the way they did, but at least they left us with 2 fantastic albums before they respectfully decided to call it quits.

Highlights (even higher than the rest of the album): Tranquilized, Jezebel, Scream of the Butterfly, God Machine