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1. The Blue
2. Tranquilized
3. Cheap Vodka
4. Finger Paintings of the Insane
5. Jezebel
6. Scream of the Butterfly
7. Dr. Seuss is Dead
8. Dope Fiend
9. Toubabo Koomi
10. God Machine
11. The Morticians Flame
12. What Color is Death
13. The Bones of Baby Dolls
14. Cassie Eats Cockroaches

Acid Bath:

Dax Riggs (vocals)

Mike Sanchez (guitar, tambourine)

Sammy Duet (guitar, background vocals)

Audie Pitre (bass, background vocals)

Jimmy Kyle (drums)

Recording information: Side One, Metairie, LA.

Acid Bath’s debut is a malicious and sometimes downright disturbing album that defies easy categorization. They stitch together elements of death metal, ’70s hard rock, thrashing hardcore punk and Black Sabbath-esque sludge into multi-sectioned songs that are both intricate and often surprisingly melodic. The production, especially the compressed drums and often-processed vocals, adds an industrial feel that increases the album’s menacing vibe. “The Blue” kicks things off with a bluesy swamp metal riff before smoothly winding its way through a maze of tempo and riff change-ups, while the closer, “Cassie Eats Cockroaches,” weaves spoken word samples and screaming vocals in and out of complex, Southern-flavored death metal riffing and precision double-bass drumming. Elsewhere, the songs range from full-on assaults (“Cheap Vodka” and “Toubabo Koomi”) to creepy ballads, namely the goth-tinged “Scream of the Butterfly” and the largely acoustic “The Bones of Baby Dolls.” Vocalist Dax Riggs handles this diverse material well, switching between distorted screams and a melodic croon reminiscent of Jim Morrison or Glen Danzig. His not-for-the-squeamish lyrics address such topics as drug abuse, rape, abortion, death, and self-loathing, but for the most part do so in an artful, vividly poetic manner. While it would have been stronger if a few of the weaker songs had been left off, When the Kite String Pops is still an excellent, diverse metal album that remains unlike much else, even years after it release. ~ William York

Editorial reviews:

The lyrics would turn even Trent Reznor’s stomach. In fact, the make Nine Inch Nails immature dabbling in the darker side of human nature seem like a 9-year-old sneaking a peak at daddy’s “Victoria’s Secret” catalog.

SUBJECTS: Death, keeping warm with burning bodies, death, cockroaches, death, necrophilia, death. Not recommended for  dinner table conversations. It’s not like you haven’t been warned: two John Wayne “them’s my spurs, little buddy” Gacy paintings grace the CD cover.

GUITARS: (applicable to most of the vocals too) table saws chewing through nail-studded 12-by-12s; magnified electric razors; the rotors of a Jolly Green Giant helicopter slapping into seagulls. Then again, there’s some very accomplished  acoustic-flavored picking during the demonic lullabies.

DRUMS: 100 car crashes in a minute.

VOCALS: Medieval, heavy metal canticles floating like angels over a battlefield; choked-out screams(see Guitars above).

The Louisiana bayou fiver brands disturbing, sinister metal into your chest so hard your heart might turn black. If hardcore is the sound of anger, this is the sound of evil.

CATEGORY: Death Metal Gumbo (fins and intestinal casings included).
(09/29/1994)