Reviews list for Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops (1994)

If there's one thing I admire in music, it's a band out to set out they can do anything.  We had a band like that for a couple of albums, before a nasty accident lead to a break-up" Acid Bath.  And get this: they hate it when their music is online.  But if you can pick it up or find it, I strongly suggest it because this is one of the most fun and eclectic sludge albums in the world.

Acid Bath's debut album is a legendary album for a mutlitude of reasons, the most important one being just how much this band is able to do with sludge metal.  We have a few Melvins-style jammers that go back to the roots, slow doomy songs that make a man wanna get as high as possible, a couple of death metal songs and a folk song for crying out fucking loud, and some raw psychedelia to keep things quirky and fun.  The same goes for our vocals which can go into raw screams, doomy growls and a more melodic alternative sound.  But the best thing about this album is how unpredictable it is while still feeling like "Acid Bath."  There isn't a moment wasted where the band doesn't put their personality into the music.  This is all about a love of metal, and what can be achieved through it.  Superstrong recommendation from my part.

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.