Sunday Cinema: Slow Southern Steel

Half the bands I love stomp south of the Mason-Dixon line. For all the dribbling of these exhaustive Sunday Sludge posts, I've spent the last few years never succinctly outlining exactly WHY these sounds are distinctly Southern, likely due to geography's shortcomings. The grit and groove of Southern metal is unique, powerful, and impossible to stuff into a box of labels or expectations. Sure, Portland has its place. The Southwest is buzzing with anger and fuzz. Greece, Hungary, and Denmark have all bred incredible sludge acts tattooing the genre's landscape. But let's be fuckin' serious: Sludge metal owes everything to the American Southeast (Texas, we'll let you in, too).

Rwake's Chris Terry has (sort of) finally unveiled Slow Southern Steel, a documentary wholly devoted to a dissection of Southern metal. What sets apart Southern sludge metal? What influenced acts like EYEHATEGOD and Jucifer? And what's with the fuckin' flag of the Confederate States? You'd be surprised. Loaded with booze, beards, and an alarmingly warm dose of unmatched brotherhood, this documentary highlights an under-appreciated musical niche via candid interviews, blunt assertions, and no shortage of flattening live stage footage. If you weren't raised in the South, you won't sound like the South. And they'll know it.

Strong family ties, nostalgia, religion, and unending uphill battles are just a few of Slow Southern Steel's triumphant reveals. This "dirt circuit" survives on familial bonds and realistic expectations. Word o' mouth is more important than social media, and there's no shame in sharing a disco-based rebellion. Beautifully-realized gravel road imagery complements the sounds, the stories, and the impact of a scene so ripe with mutual respect and appreciation that it's damn-near overwhelming. This film perfectly explains the things I can't. I'm just a dude who loves Acid Bath. But this is a film that helps me understand why.


For fans of: Rwake, EYEHATEGOD, Acid Bath, Buzzov-en, Dark Castle, Hank III, Dixie Witch, Down, HAARP, COC, Arson Anthem, Black Tusk, Kylesa, Deadbird, Seahag, Beaten Back to Pure, Alabama Thunderpussy, (the) Melvins, Music Hates You, Outlaw Order, Mastodon, Goatwhore, Soilent Green, Lamb of God, Sourvein, Assjack, Weedeater, ANTiSEEN, Hawg Jaw, Crowbar, Hail! Hornet, Zoroaster, A Hanging, and countless fucking other bands you already love.

Pair with: Pabst Blue Ribbon tallboys, one after another

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Sunday Sludge (Father's Day Edition) - Acid Bath

The Father's Day edition of Sunday Sludge brings wicked memories, slapping us in the face with sludge metal pioneers Acid Bath. A disclaimer is certainly in order; if you're not familiar with Acid Bath or Dax Riggs's incredibly dark and troubling lyrics, leave this page and come back tomorrow. If you've ever heard these guys, you know the term "sludge metal" can never fully encapsulate the experience of this seminal band.

Acid Bath was formed in 1991, producing two albums having polarizing effects on anyone who paid attention. While the band's sound contained elements of grind, doom, goth, blues, folk, country, punk, and grunge, we're highlighting their contribution and influence to the sludge we can't get enough of on a rain-soaked Sunday morning. Acid Bath's cult following can't be ignored, and their brief album catalog is misleading.

Sift through When the Kite String Pops (1994) and you'll be greeted with sludge bliss on tracks like "Dope Fiend," "Finger Paintings of the Insane," and "Dr. Seuss is Dead." The album's artwork is unmistakably that of John Wayne Gacy, which likely turned off many distributors and potential fans. But even more troubling than the cover art are the lyrics contained in these fourteen tracks. Death isn't a recurring theme, it's THE theme. Check out the scripts for yourself, because I'm not sharing. This album has no parallel, grinding out more sound than most bands produce in an entire career.

The band split after bassist Audie Pitrie was killed, though they released Paegan Terrorism Tactics (1996) just two months prior. Dax continues using dark poetry to paint his landscapes, while Jack Kevorkian's artwork served as their sophomore album's cover. The sludge is still there on this disc, and anyone enjoying the heaviness sliced by today's bands likely owes a great debt to Acid Bath. I can only attempt to excuse and explain these lyrics by illustrating the popularity of horror films containing gruesome scenes; if Hollywood can make our skin crawl with Sissy Spacek and corn syrup, how could Dax worry our parents? Then again, no music's ever been exempt from the double standard.

You don't have to dig much to find every track Acid Bath ever released. What WILL get your wheels spinning is how many of your favorite bands sound like these two albums. Acid Bath laid the pavement for many great (and many awful) bands we currently love by experimenting with every chunk of gravity and glazing the sound with envelope-pushing, neck-snapping lyrics of the most disheartening order. You'll come back to these songs every time your pusher says "Dude, check out these guys..." You've probably heard the riff before. And it was probably Acid Bath.

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Album Of The Day-Acid Bath-"When The Kite String Pops" (1994)

The Album Of The Day is "When The Kite String Pops" by Acid Bath. An absolute classic to say the very least.



Review:

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, AMG)

Track Listing:

01. "The Blue" – 6:13
02. "Tranquilized" – 4:14
03. "Cheap Vodka" – 2:14
04. "Fingerpaintings of the Insane" – 6:04
05. "Jezebel" – 4:53
06. "Scream of the Butterfly" – 6:14
07. "Dr. Seuss is Dead" – 6:04
08. "Dope Fiend" – 5:19
09. "Toubabo Koomi" – 5:01
10. "God Machine" – 5:00
11. "The Morticians Flame" – 4:05
12. "What Color is Death" – 3:19
13. "The Bones of Baby Dolls" – 6:00
14. "Cassie Eats Cockroaches" – 4:22

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