Paegan Terrorism Tactics

Paegan Terrorism Tactics may not enjoy the lofty status of its bigger brother When the Kite String Pops but I reckon it’s the better album of the two. It's more circumspect to its sibling's lewd and crazy antics, yet there's a seriously sinistrous and enigmatic air about it; a pretty dark record when you go beyond scratching the surface but one that sounds refined and somewhat dignified at face value. Comprising some searing past resonances and overlaid with some fresh and relatively amiable music, it seems like the perfect equilibrium of old and new, extreme and modest...

A meeker demeanour facilitates more variety, since songs now range from somewhat fast to mostly medium paced and even hauntingly slow as achieved on New Death Sensation and Dead Girl. You cannot limit it to a specific genre, it's too diverse for that, but to these ears, the riffing style veers more towards doom metal than it does towards sludge, two of the band's primary styles. These towering riffs seem a bit inspired from the mighty Sabbath and the guitars have an all-consuming effect, the softer parts very sombre, and everything coming together to impart a feeling that’s gloomy yet comforting. While mostly reigning in these confines, it also slumps into the dark, cold vales of Norway - Locust Sprawling's outro is a seemingly perfect fit for Darkthrone’s Under a Funeral Moon and sounds more trve kvlt black metal than actual trve kvlt black metal. It's also one of the faster songs and seems almost unsuited for an album that's more easy-going in its approach. Not a wise statement to make for an Acid Bath record, is it?

Just as it's rewarding to make such unhurried progress, so there's something enormously satisfying about revelling in the diversity of multiple song styles. The melodies have a stronger presence and the guitar solos are more fleshed out, accompanying and elevating the rhythm sections. I don't think keyboards have been at the forefront of the band's sound before but you hear them in a prominent setting on Graveflower particularly, a ballad with some heavier sections that sound quite atmospheric and hypnotising. There are two more deep-dyed acoustic ballads in New Death Sensation and Dead Girl; I think Acid Bath does fantastic ballads as evident in Scream of the Butterfly before and these only validate the band's range and talent at making slow and dark yet deeply soulful music. New Death Sensation relies on percussion and vocal melodies for added drama and is one of the most haunting and depressing tunes I've listened to, like Opeth meets Katatonia, and Dax Riggs' vocal performance on it is of the highest quality, always leaving me awestruck, speechless and teary-eyed when it plays 30 or so minutes into the album. Dead Girl, on the other hand, is purely acoustic and the most grungy song here - a simpler composition that accomplishes a haunting effect mostly from a lyrical standpoint. The song placement is such that you feel as though the ballads are snatching you away, gently so, from the chaotic effect of the angrier songs and cocooning you in a thought-provoking realm before pushing you into the epicenter of the chaos again, which is the angry songs.

Melodic overtones take center stage in lieu of the shrouded undertones and a robust bottom-end, which makes for a warmer overall sound. Like everything else, the mix is tamer too and bass isn't as nasty as its elder sibling but still perceptible enough to be heard in most of the sections and especially sounding tasty on Diäb Soulè. I appreciate that I can clearly hear nearly every instrument and not one at the expense of the other. The drums are brawny and tight with Jimmy Kyle behind the set. You hear him pick up the tempo on choruses and slow down for the gentler sections, also displaying his deft footwork at some tasty double bass while he vigorously thrashes the snares and cymbals. The vocals are slightly louder in the mix but that's to emphasise the dramatic effect of the melodies. While mostly clean, they also switch between death metal growls and a bit of black metal shrieks. The cleaner ones particularly are very controlled and consistent, gut-wrenching at times, and deeply evocative on the slower songs; I knew Dax Riggs was pretty good on the previous album but did not expect him to delve into the deeper confines of my soul this time and garner such strong emotional reactions out of me. His vocals are one of the most crucial and somewhat overlooked factors that add to this album's sublime character and sound.

Of course, you cannot not mention the lyrics when reviewing an Acid Bath record, for they have always been at the core of the band's identity and appeal. More so than the sound and atmosphere, it’s the lyrics this time that will give this away as an Acid Bath record. The sound may have a diaphanous veil of refinement about it but the lyrics embrace the same old vileness synonymous with the band. Sure, they are a little less uncouth comparably but still scream eccentricity and genuine shock. Also, this may just be me and my imagination but I think they depict a journey or expedition of sorts, a quest to uncover the deep-seated mysteries and secrets of the world, of multiple dark and sinistrous events occurring in different settings and chilling encounters with some truly bizarre people. I don't know if it's the narration on Old Skin and Ode of the Paegan that imparts this feeling or the seemingly conversational lyrics on Dead Girl or the very transcendental nature of New Death Sensation, but I do get a strrong impression these songs are somehow connected to one another in an inexplicable way - tracks 5, 6 and 7 flow beautifully into each other and seem like one intact composition of varying mood shifts.

For the sake of this review, I revisited Paegan Terrorism Tactics after a very long time and boy was I mesmerised all over, once again. It was a beautifully satisfying and warming feeling, like meeting a very close friend after ages and sharing nothing but genuine love and appreciation. Even though it embraces a more accessible and modest sound, it's still a pretty big hit with the otherwise rigid metal audience. How can it not be? It's such a fantastic album that displays the band's potential and versatility as super-talented musicians who forayed into a newer realm of sound and still nailed the execution. Rarely, if at all, do you come across something that's irksome or out of place, everything else leaving an everlasting impression on you, not because of shock value but because of quality musicianship. It's a fitting conclusion to the band's elite discography and short yet celebrated career, forever cementing their position as one of the most unique, and greatest, metal bands of all time.

Paegan Terrorism Tactics (which will be abbreviated as "PTT" in this review) was the second and final full-length album published by seminal sludge metal band Acid Bath before they disbanded several months into 1997 after the death of bassist Audie Pitre and the surviving members all wanting to go in different musical directions. When it comes to bands with very limited discographies that still contain at least 2 releases, it becomes somewhat hard to not start making comparisons. Acid Bath falls under that category as their 2 albums are not only what they're best remembered for, but also sound noticeably different from each other while simultaneously being similar. PTT and the band's debut album, When the Kite String Pops (which I'll abbreviate as "WtKSP"), are mainly comparable in regards to the production, instrumentation, and musical experimentation. Acid Bath fans who've grown accustomed to the way one album sounds should still learn to appreciate the other album for what its worth.

Unlike WtKSP, I don't think PTT would necessarily be the first album to come to mind for many when it comes to a textbook sludge metal album. Of course, the album does contain sludgy moments, but there is a lot more going on musically than just a combination of doom metal and hardcore punk. Hints of grunge, goth, rock, acoustic, and spoken word influence can clearly be heard on top of the sludge metal and tiny pinch of death metal influence. WtKSP has the same kind of influences, but the metal side of that album ended up completely outweighing the non-metal side. PTT, on the other hand, is an album that does a better job of equally balancing metal songwriting with non-metal songwriting. Songs like "Paegan Love Song", "Graveflower", and "Venus Blue" are unique to Acid Bath in the sense that they combine clean guitar riffs with distorted riffs at some point. The acoustic side of Acid Bath is further developed upon in "New Death Sensation" as well as "Dead Girl". The song "New Death Sensation" is the strongest example of gothic influence on this album. The songs "Bleed Me an Ocean" and "Venus Blue" strike me as being the most reminiscent to grunge/rock. I can't possibly forget the spoken word drug trips known as "Old Skin" and "Ode of the Paegan" (also known as "The Beautiful Downgrade"). They're 2 spoken word tracks with some of the most trippy, unhinged sound effects going on over vocalist Dax Riggs's signature poetic yet extremely bizarre lyrics. While those 2 tracks are unique and mix things up, I never cared for them a whole lot. The songs I have yet to mention are where the purely metal side of PTT shines.

The instrumentation on PTT is of obvious noteworthiness. I'd argue that this album has the more memorable guitar solos. A drone is utilized in the guitar solo of "Graveflower." I don't think I've heard that used in any other Acid Bath guitar solo. This album does not feature as much distorted bass guitar as WtKSP. The bass guitar doesn't get the spotlight as frequently, but is there to add interesting undertones rather than just some low end. Jimmy Kyle uses both electric and acoustic drums on this album. Dax's vocals (and yes, vocals are considered an instrument) take a more clean and melodic approach on this album. WtKSP is the album where his vocals are more reliant on screaming. Guitarist Sammy Duet has more prominent vocal roles on this album. He does lead vocals on "New Corpse" which is a first. He also has more of his own independent lines in songs, unlike WtKSP where he is mainly doing backup vocals with his own lines here and there. Similarly to WtKSP, guitarist Mike Sanchez really shines on the acoustic parts. His guitar work on "Dead Girl" is unmatched by all accounts. Sammy Duet has even stated that Mike is fantastic on the acoustic guitar. The number 1 biggest difference between When the Kite String Pops and Paegan Terrorism Tactics is that the latter features keyboard playing. Tomas Viator of the Disincarnate fame joined Acid Bath towards the end of their career as keyboardist and contributes some wicked undertones to this album. His keyboard playing gets the spotlight during "Graveflower". It's a shame he goes largely unnoticed by a lot of Acid Bath fans. The atmosphere that can be created through keyboards is not to be underestimated.

The production on this album is way cleaner than that of WtKSP. With all due respect, I do think this album could be taken as sounding a bit "mainstream", at least for the time period. A lot of metal bands altered their sound later into the 90's for something more commercial. It's no secret at all. Some bands were able to pull it off well enough that it was deemed acceptable by metalheads, and some bands weren't. I feel that Acid Bath is a band that pulled it off well. Sure, they cleaned up their songwriting, but the creepy and vile nature Acid Bath is known for stayed. That mainly lies within the lyrics, but it is also prevalent in the production. As I said, the bass guitar and keyboards add undertones to the album with the song "Locust Spawning" being the most optimal example. A decent amount of reverb was added to the vocals which gives them this foreboding echo that bleeds despair. Sammy Duet's vocals are prevalent in the mix, so it feels like they're supposed to stand out. However, Audie Pitre's vocals seem to be buried in the mix. The same thing happened with WtKSP. It's hard to ignore the pounding and thudding of the drums and cymbals. They are a crucial factor in maintaining and adding to the band's sound. Somebody once claimed that "Venus Blue" could've been a hit song on the radio if it weren't for its lyrical content. Honestly, I think the same can be said for this entire album.

It's almost hard to believe that Acid Bath put this album out only 2 years after their debut and still managed to make it sound so much different. It truly goes to show the impact of throwing in all kinds of influences and growing as a musician. While it is unfortunate this would be the last album from Acid Bath, it's for the better that the members didn't force themselves to continue the band since their main songwriting, Audie Pitre, sadly passed away and everyone wanted to take different musical routes. There is no greater hell for a musician than having to be a part of a band that is no longer enjoyable. Acid Bath's 1996 full-length album Paegan Terrorism Tactics deserves as much love as When the Kite String Pops gets. Favorite track: 13 Fingers.

Two years after Acid Bath made waves in the metal underground with their sensational debut When The Kite String Pops, they released this, their second and final album Paegan Terrorism Tactics. After courting controversy with the John Wayne Gacy artwork sported by their previous album, the band adorned the sleeve of the follow-up with a Jack Kevorkian painting. In some respects, despite again choosing to be visually represented by a convicted murderer, the choice of Kevorkian actually demonstrates a growing maturity – Kevorkian’s conviction being for assisting the suicide of a terminally ill man, rather than the senseless killing of innocent victims. This increased level of sophistication is also evident in the band’s music, with Paegan Terrorism Tactics offering a more focussed and sharper set of songs than the debut, but without sacrificing any of the multi-valent extreme metal genre-hopping that characterises their sound.

The album opens with the hugely impactful quasi-title track ‘Paegan Love Song’. Boasting the band’s biggest and perhaps best riff, the track is a musical tsunami of devastating power, annihilating everything in its path, Dax Riggs’ searing vocals slicing through the supremely thick guitar tone that will be familiar to fans of When The Kite String Pops. The aforementioned riff is relatively simple in structure, but the band develop this monolithic groove in numerous subtle directions throughout the first half of the song – Jimmy Kyle’s ever-excellent drum arrangements constantly mutating through complex double-kick patterns, and the band experiment with occasionally layering additional rhythm guitars to thicken the sound, as well as injecting short bursts of energising chord sequences which propel the song forward. Riggs’ haunting and chilling lyrics, recounting the band’s own experiences with psychedelics and opiates, add an additional grimy ingredient to a complex recipe, and the twisted nursery rhyme feel of “You scream, I scream, everybody screams for morphine” queasily and memorably subverts the listener’s expectations, elevating the song into a true anti-anthem for the damned, even before the Type O Negative-style doomy dirge that dominates the second half of the song emerges from a howl of feedback to complete a magnificent epic that seems to contain a lifetime within its exhausting six minute runtime.

As the album continues through song after brilliant song, Acid Bath demonstrate their class by pulling off the difficult trick of working through a range of styles (albeit within the milieu of rock, metal and punk), and offering fascinating variation, but at all times sounding exactly like Acid Bath. It shows an admirable strength of vision to be able to so effectively bend and shape a plurality of influences and inspirations into a singular, identifiable and cohesive whole, and that Acid Bath managed to execute their sound so successfully, despite being dissolute in so many other ways is quite remarkable.

It is to Acid Bath’s immense credit that so consistently high is the quality of composition, that it is difficult to single out any particular song as the album’s peak – instead the album is a mountain range, a vista of pinnacles stretching as far as the eye can see, each one offering a different and unique perspective, but stunningly impressive when viewed as a whole. On any given listen, attention could be drawn to the almost celebratory classic metal riff buried midway through the glacial doom of ‘Graveflower’, the industrial breakdown and clanging mechanical percussion embellishing the climax of the otherwise brutally death metal ‘Locust Spawning’, or the triumphant d-beat hardcore chugging of ‘New Corpse’. The next, however, might focus instead on the petrifying, and raw sludge of ’13 Fingers’, or the merauding riff and coruscating vocal of ‘Diäb Soulé’. Paegan Terrorism Tactics bears the unmistakeable mark of many a great album, and continues to reveal itself many years and listens after its initial release.

Although Acid Bath’s career was disappointingly short, the result is a back catalogue that is close to perfect. More than that, notwithstanding a hidden track which appears after 20 minutes of silence, the album, and indeed the band’s discography as a whole, ends on a fitting bittersweet note, with the calm after the storm of ‘Dead Girl’. A grungy acoustic ballad that in parts recalls Nirvana’s more maudlin moments, it also offers a clear signpost for Riggs’ musical output post-Acid Bath. As the song is transformed during its second half by a modulation into major key, the song resonates with a modicum of hope, the suggestion of possible redemption following the crazed nihilism of two albums worth of frightening sludge. Somewhat underappreciated during their all too brief existence, Paegan Terrorism Tactics is the crowning glory of a unimpeachable brace of underground metal classics, ensuring that their legacy will only continue to grow in their absence.

First published here: https://alifetimeofmusic537956501.wordpress.com/2020/06/09/acid-bath-paegan-terrorism-tactics/

To compare this artist to Type O Negative would be unfair. But that’s exactly what I’m going to do all the same. Louisiana’s Acid Bath bear many similarities, at least in their general approach to crafting an album. One that pretends at one thing but is actually another. Their second effort, ‘Paegan Terrorism Tactics’ (1996) melds a multitude of styles from sludge, to grunge, to hardcore punk, to doom, and across an album that stretches well over an hour they produce a disjointed yet ambitious anthology of these various styles. They also mix in a healthy dose of black humour into the pot for good measure as only mid-1990s alt-rock can.

I call this alt rock in the broadest possible sense, simply because it touches on so many styles along the way the appeal of this album is pretty broad. Sure there’s plenty of heavy sludge and doom riffs, but the album is produced to be more on trend for the dirty, grungy aesthetic of the mid-1990s. And indeed it’s the raw energetic drums, the lo-fi distortion on the guitars, and the Layne Staley esque croonering that holds this album together as a cohesive whole across its one hour plus run time.

The end result is undoubtably chimerical however, with little discipline in dispensing of tracks or transitions that do not work. There is also the inevitable kooky interludes which only serve to irritate after repeated listens. The frustration comes from the fact that when Acid Bath do commit to one style or another they really do excel at it. This is more a case of jack of all trades really quite good at very many of them. But I have repeated on many occasions my distaste for lengthy albums that do little to justify the length. And it is undeniable that ‘Paegan Terrorism Tactics’ could do with some strimming. But it does not take the piss. There is enough music to warrant an expanded runtime.

‘Paegan Terrorism Tactics’ is a fine album, but it slips just beyond the line of pretension into demanding too much of the listeners attention beyond what they are actually offering musically. Something many releases of the time were guilty of, when sarcasm and dead pan humour was pervasive in alt rock.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Acid Bath is a short lived, Louisiana sludge metal band that only released two albums. As an extreme underground act, they never enjoyed mass popularity but are often mentioned as one of the most important sludge bands of the 90s. Paegan Terrorism Tactics is landmark metal album. Plenty of dark and twisted lyrics, varied songs and varied vocal styles. Acid Bath is not just a sludge band, they encompass many different stylings to keep the listener on edge.

Acid Bath is best known as a sludge band, but there are many extreme metal qualities that are drawn upon. From the double bass, screamed vocals and aggressively fast song styles, Acid Bath are intense when they want to be. There are plenty of slowed down doom metal type songs that offer a unique balance. Just check out Graveflower if you want doom or 13 Fingers if you want the extreme fast aggression. There is not a whole lot that Acid Bath could not accomplish in a song

From the creepy spoken word interludes, to the acoustic desert rock of Dead Girl, Acid Bath perfects everything it attempts. It is obvious they had the Midas touch because every song is gold. Acid Bath is a classic example of a band reaching its full potential and then burning out. Paegan Terrorism Tactics would be the final studio album due to the death of Audie. He was obviously an integral part of the team and the band decided to end honorably. If that car accident had not happened, Acid Bath could very well be around today or at least could have given us a few more years.

There is no sense in living in what could have been even though it is so easy to dwell on. When the Kite Strings Pop and Paegan Terrorism Tactics are top notch efforts. On a personal note, I feel that PTT is a bit more accessible and easier to digest and I prefer it by a slight margin. The band seemed to drawn influences from everywhere including grunge, gothic and stoner rock. They were a fearless group at were willing to go anywhere at anytime.

Most metal bands aren't going to go into a acoustic especially to end out an album. Dead Girl is a dark and haunting piece of work that could send chills down your spine. It's very disturbing, like Dax is having a one on one conversation with a corpse. Metal bands also do not put little poetry sessions like Acid Bath does either. The instrumental Old Skin is extremely dark poetry. If the band had made it big, I always pictured Old Skin being their opening tape loop and the untitled afterwards to be their outro music. It's just Dax with some voice manipulation and background creepiness, but it sure does fit the mood of Paegan Terrorism Tactics!

Paegan Terrorism Tactics is Acid Bath reaching their full potential. The fast songs blazing extreme metal complimented by the Southern sludge influences, the dark lyrics and a variety of influences outside the metal genres make this album a unique experience. The album is such a mixed bag of everything, it easily could have flopped. Somehow Acid Bath makes a train wreck work and that is because of the musicianship within. Listening to a song like Dead Girl and then a song like 13 fingers, you would wonder if they were from the same musician. That's just how different and varied Acid Bath could be. They are not tied down to doing the same thing and you can tell there is great freedom to explore. One thing that all Acid bath has in common, is the sick, dark, depressing and gruesome musical themes. It does not matter if its a slow acoustic number, a spoken word part or a more traditional style metal song.

Acid Bath features an all star cast of musicians. It doesn't get much better than Dax Riggs on lead vocals. I would actually shy away from calling him the lead vocalist because he is certainly not afraid to share the floor with his other members. Sometimes during the songs he will swoop in briefly to entirely slow down or change the mood of a particular song. When he has the singing floor it's beautiful, haunting and sinister. He creates an incredibly dark atmosphere with the help of the disturbing lyrics.

The guitarists are both Sammy Duet from Goatwhore and Mike Sanchez who would follow Riggs along after the split up of Acid Bath. The riffs are often extreme and heavy like I have described previously. Sammy also provides vocal parts and he plays the extreme backing vocal screams. Audie Petre plays the bass and also sings backing vocals. Despite Dax being the main vocalist, both Sammy and Audie play big roles in the vocal department and are often on entire songs. All 3 players have a vital role in the Acid Bath sound.

One of the biggest mysteries is why Jimmy Kyle was never featured in any other bands. Aside from Acid Bath and the pre Acid Bath band Golgotha, Kyle moved on from music. It's too bad because he has a lot of talent to offer. I'm sure he can look back at what the band accomplished in so little time and appreciate what they accomplished. He is everything you want in a drummer. He is hard hitting and gives the songs a serious backbone especially on the more death metal sludge songs.

Paegan Terrorism Tactics is one of the best extreme metal albums. It speaks to a wide variety of genres. The doom crowd will instantly appreciate Graveflower. Venus Blue could have seen some radio play back in the day when the grunge explosion was happening. New Corpse and 13 Fingers will catch the ears of the extreme metal crowd. Overall, Acid Bath will attract the sick headed and the disturbing. Acid Bath was one of the most grotesquely beautiful band to come out of the swamps of Louisiana!

The strangeness encountered on Acid Bath's second album is the next logical step in this journey of a mad band. On terms of style or genre, there really isn't much difference between Paegan Terrorism Tactics and When the Kite String Pops. The songwriting and extremes of those styles are where the two are set apart. The heavy songs are faster, more monstrous, and barbaric. The soft songs are more reserved and relaxing despite the deranged serial killer rants that make up the lyrics. And the groovy songs are even more groovy with greasy thick riffs that entice listeners in with relative ease, perfect fore driving along to in some surreal desert wasteland where the people huff toxic vapors, gnaw on bones, and the skyscrapers are gravestones in the distance. It's the kind of deranged psychoholic trip White Zombie wishes they could take you on.

We see the songs becoming more accessible and cohesive on this release much to their benefit. Paegan Love Song opens with the quote "dying felt so goddammit good today" and proceeds to give us a driving sludge tune which more than services the hardened listener with a catchy riff, hook, and a smooth breakdown at the end fading into psychedelia. Bleed Me An Ocean starts off smooth but picks up into a much groovier beast as the buildup prepares us for something much heavier, delivering a satisfying payoff. Graveflower, New Death Sensation, and Venus Blue are the smoother songs on here with slow progression, a relaxing yet uneasy sound with Dax Riggs spinning forth his demented poems for the listener to digest as the songs revels in soothing psychedelic instrumentation. More grooves are offered in Diab Soule which balances imposing slowness with stomping speed. Locust Spawning, 13 Fingers, and New Corpse are where most of this album's rage has been bottled up in, and once you release it, it comes put like a raging torrent of smashing guitars, face-trampling drums, and Dax at his most pissed off assisted by Sammy Duet screaming about how he's going to "put the love of Jesus into Mary's hole." That's just one depraved quote you can dig out of Paegan Terrorism Tactics, there are tons of others such as "I heard the ghost of Hitler on the radio", "The skyscrapers look like gravestones from out here", "How much more must we bleed her", etc. Song wise, this is a strong album with plenty to offer.

The seal killer aesthetic is still in full swing on this, albeit it's more reserved than before but just as potent. Rants about cutting throats and such riddle the lyrics, but more focus is put on pure surrealism. It's almost like Dax is projecting what's on a deranged killer's mind when he's not thinking of murder, those lyrics, plus the sludgy, psychedelic sound of Paegan Terrorism Tactics continue the mental illness theme of their first album, carrying it into new territory here. They also use a Jack Kevorkian painting as the album art to reinforce the theme. Even the guitar play, which is manic, alternates between speeds often in most songs, this plus liberal use of psychedelia and varied riffs give the guitar a sound as though it is synced with Dax's mania. Full crazy mode is always on with Acid Bath and album number 2 is no exception much to my pleasure.

It's sad that this album had to be their last, they had a tight sound that delivered crushing grooves, hypnotic psychedelia, savage brutality, and relaxing calm when they felt like it. This album is in many ways an equal to it's predecessor as both explored the world of the danged by making equally deranged and engrossing music to boot. This is still as unique a sludge release as we can get, and I would encourage you to look them up and really listen to Paegan Terrorism Tactics, It's more than worth your time.

After the near flawless debut “When the Kite String Pops” gave Acid Bath a distinct name for themselves in the death, doom and stoner metal realm. “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” went above and beyond their instrumental and song writing achievements on their first album. Although the dark and disturbing subject matter and lyrical content is still strongly featured here, the overall tone and vibe seems a lot less somber and ominous. With the first track “Paegan Love Song” having almost a feel good and carefree opening riff, the aggressive and adrenaline packed vocals and guitar riff attack would make any headbanger go absolutely insane. Despite being quite underrated as a whole, Acid Bath are definitely one of the greatest, original, artsy and diverse bands in metal despite being quite short lived with only two full-length albums to be released. They use many different aspects and styles of metal at once to create their own recognizable and unique sound. Such as the acoustic ballads “New Death Sensation” and “Dead Girl” which are quite sonically captivating and enchanting but at the same time are overshadowed by the bleak and poetically disturbed lyrics.

Every member plays a crucial and singular role to the band, whether it is: Dax Riggs’s profoundly deep and dark lyrics along with his powerful and ever changing vocals, Sammy Pierre Duet’s torturous screeches and menacing guitar riffs, Audie Pitre’s threatening basslines and Jimmy Kyle’s robust and consuming drum fills. All of this is evident on the most distinguishable track on the album “Venus Blue” which sounds as though it has the potential of being recognized outside of the metal community, with a chorus that sounds larger than life joined by lyrics packed with themes of desolation, hopelessness and despair. The album covers that Acid chose on both their debut and predecessor, such as the painting by serial John Wayne Gacy on their first album, embodies the overall dark and disturbing lyrical themes portrayed by Acid Bath. The whispering mantra “Like Murder” on the grandiose and epic “Graveflower” allows the listener to enter and experience the grizzly and deviant thoughts of a disturbed mind. Furthermore, the two poems written by Dax Riggs that are featured on the album such as “New Skin” and “Ode of the Paegan” are a testimony to the twisted yet beautiful world that Acid Bath depicts.

Every single track builds up in strength and variety as the entire album progresses, therefore demonstrating “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” as Acid Bath’s ultimate masterpiece and an absolute gem in metal. While it is unmistakably influential and impressive, it is an album where it’s cult status continues to grow. Every time I listen to this exceptional album, I am constantly amazed of how Acid Bath emphasizes and executes each detail delicately and perfectly, whether it’s through the musicianship, art and lyrics. No other band in metal can better depict the southern imagery of swamps, dirt roads, pecan trees and vast forests and rivers than Acid Bath. They are band that are still sorely missed because they had a style and sound that is still unparalleled. After the truly unfortunate death of Audie Pitre, the remaining members decided to end the band, as they could no longer to continue without one’s of the band most creative driving forces.

As Dax Riggs is busy working on many folk and singer/songwriter collaborations and projects and Sammy Pierre Duet has become a constant member of the New Orleans death metal Goatwhore, it is unlikely that the group will ever reunite despite many rumours of them getting back together. Despite this, Acid Bath have obtained a legendary status and continue to be worshipped and praised by many devout and loyal headbangers. It is quite fitting to say that Acid Bath have gone in musical directions that no other metal band has gone and still stands alone to this day.

Acid Bath are one of the many bands that are hard to pinpoint to belonging to one genre. While sludge is always present in their music, so is grunge and southern metal. You could easily make a case for there being a bit of death here too. Some people say that there's a bit of black metal here but I don't hear it. Really though, in the end, it doesn't really matter what genre they are, what matters is if they're good, and yes they are.

Paegan Terrorism Tactics expands on the sounds of their debut "When The Kite String Pops", but with more focus on melody. In addition to this new focus on melody, the production is very warm and full. Not that When The Kite String Pops had poor sound quality, but it pales in comparison. The guitars roar, the soft parts are extremely atmospheric, and each instrument stands out distinctly from the rest. Also, they don't overuse stereo! Not that that's a major deal, but I've been listening to old Beatles recently and dang they loved stereo just a bit too much. Basically the album has great engineering.

Musically, the songs are all over the place. There is a reason there is such debate over what genre they are, because they do so much of everything. Some songs are fast and in your face, some are atmospheric, and some are slow and sludgy. This is a band who really have their own sound and it's hard to compare them to anyone. Sure they have sludge but they aren't Crowbar, sure they have grunge but they aren't Nirvana, sure they have stoner but they aren't Sleep. It's impossible to pinpoint. What brings them together is their dark feeling and very melodic overtones. Despite the multiple genres, the album is more focused than many bands who stick to one genre. They also occasionally get trippy like on "Graveflower". Really, it's hard to summarize anything here other than that the instrumentation is great.

The vocals are awesome. Singer Dax Riggs has both an incredibly powerful singing voice and top-tier death growls. Like with the band's genre, the vocals jump between styles often. He also never seems to overuse one style, bouncing back and forth when the music calls for it, not when he feels an urge to. His voice is also put higher in the mix than the instruments, and while I almost wish they were lower, they're still fine and I'm glad the focused on the vocals instead of something else.

Lyrically, the album is pretty dark and sinister. They are very well written, and would be great even without the spectacular vocal performance. With such an incredible performance behind it, the lyrics really feel very emotional and powerful. Death is what this album is about, and while I wouldn't call it a concept album really, the lyrics all do have that one central focus. It can be a tad annoying to listen to nothing but this one lyrical style, especially since the music around it changes so much in comparison, but the music always fits the lyrics well and the lyrics are well written so it isn't bad at all really. This is really one of the albums stronger features, its ability to perfectly match the tone of the music and tone of the lyrics.

If you like grunge, doom, sludge, death, or southern metal this album is worth a listen. If you like more than one of these, you really MUST listen to it. If nothing else, listen to "Bleed Me An Ocean", which which is probably one of my top 5 favorite songs ever. Paegan Terrorism Tactics is a masterwork on all levels.

Acid Bath are listed as Sludge/Doom metal, but they are so much more than that. Their style encapsulates elements of hardcore, thrash and death metal as well. The difference between them and many other bands that try to incorporate varied sounds is that they sound absolutely coherent. With this album (and the one preceding it) they have created a beautiful, unique dark monstrosity. The riffs run the gamut of metal sounds and emotions. Take the first song, for example. Paegan Love song begins with a rocking sludgy riff that it's almost impossible not to headbang to, seamlessly transitions to a chuggy riff, comes back to the main riff (now with variations), goes through many more tempo changes, before ending with a very doomy, drugged out riff. Almost every song is like this, except they even throw in beautiful and tragic acoustic songs. After hearing this album, one is led to wonder what happened to Sammy Duet? His music with Goatwhore is enjoyable to an extent, but this here is near perfection.

Jimmy Kyle's drumming is truly hard hitting. He adds so much to every song, rarely sticking to straightforward rhythms. Making the slow sections feel depraved and the speed frantic. You rarely hear him abusing double bass, he executes restraint when it's needed, and his fills are impressive. His tone is very pleasing. The bass drums aren't clicky and the snare is suitably sonorous. It's too bad that after this band fell apart due to so much drug abuse and the death of Audrie Pitre (their bassist), he became a born-again Christian and never recorded more music. Who knows how he would have developed?

Speaking of Audrie, I think his presence on this album answers the question I posited about Duet. He is felt behind every riff, not always following the guitar, dragging the sound into the depths of hell (or in this case, Houma,Louisiana.) In the softer songs like Graveflower, he's just as loud as the guitars, thumping away quite melodically. Many people make the mistake of stating that those insane high shrieks in certain sections were emitted by Sammy, but they were actually Audrie. Rarely have I ever heard such spite in harsh vocals.

And now we get to Dax Riggs, the centerpiece, in my opinion. Simply put, the man is a genius. He was a genius here, and he continues to be a genius to this day. Turning everything he touches into gold. His vocals go from a deceptive and soft croon, to grunge influenced inflections, to passionate higher pitched vocals, to harsh screams. His tone is quite unique too. His lyrics are some of the most genuinely dark out there too. They are twisted to an extent only reached by the likes of Pig Destroyer. They are in perfect synergy with the music. That's what makes this album so impressive, perfect synthesis of every element. It's like they either channeled the music from some great beyond or painstakingly jammed every song a million times until their fingers bled and they couldn't handle any more drugs. The way Dax delivers certain lines like ''she asked if it would hurt, I smiled and said no. The lie ran down my chin like embryo." in Dead Girl, or his repeated screams of DEVOUR in Locust Spawning sends chills down my spine every single time. But nearly every line is classic, really.

It's quite a long album, but I've never found that to be a problem. It might be annoying for people who don't enjoy having an erection for over an hour, but I'm okay with that. I'll never be dead bored with these deathless blues. Almost anything you're looking for, this can provide. You want a really agressive, murderous song? Locust Spawning. You want murder ballads? Graveflower and Dead Girl. A hypnotic beautiful song that will take you to another world if you've been hitting that bong? New Death Sensation.

I love this album. The ONLY reason I'm not giving it 100% is that I'm not always in the mood for the spoken poetry tracks (even though they're obviously very well written) and I just personally have something against perfect scores. Maybe this album could be improved, but I don't see how.

The sound of the ocean is dead, it's just the echo of the blood in your head. So listen to Paegan Terrorism Tactics instead.

Acid Bath is one of my all time favourite bands, they’re just incredible! From the lyrics, to the vocals, to the guitar and the drums, everything works amazing together. Acid Bath is not a very technical band, both their CD’s are similar, in that they use each element of music together to create a solid, dark and killer atmosphere. Entrancing you with haunting vocals, as well as screams, Acid Bath are, in my opinion, one of the top sludge/doom bands, up there with Eyehategod, Crowbar and the many others.

This CD “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” is a definite classic. The melodic sludge and doom draws you in cuts you into pieces and then puts you back together in a new form. Dax Riggs has a gift for creating some of the darkest lyrics ever, and not cheesy dark, just plain serial killer dark. He takes you on a journey through a drugged up psychopaths mind and man he does it well. Not only are his lyrics insane, his clean voice is fucking incredible and he can scream as if he were being murdered, he is relentless. Alongside him, Sammy Duet, now of Goatwhore, is able to compliment Dax’s vocals and screams with his own haunting screams. They are just as intense and just as necessary as anything inside of this haunting album. All musicians: Jimmy Kyle (drums), Mike Sanchez (guitar) and Audie Pitre (bass), are amazing, they all grew up in similar slum areas of the South, building their influence of Southern fried sludge.

Now on to the songs! The CD starts off with “Paegan Love Song,” a sure crowd pleaser. It has a very groovy and intense riff to start off the song, as well as the CD. The whole song is put together beautifully, and it is quite simple, but gives off an energetic rush. Dax screams, sings, screams, sings, as the tempos increase and decrease in a melodic manner until the slow droning breakdown that really grabs your attention. Dax’s voice shines at that part! It is a killer song, but next is one of the highlights, “Bleed Me an Ocean.” This song starts off slow and basic and Dax’s voice, once again, shines above slow sludgy music. But the song picks up and gets faster until it gets to a bridge that is nice and slow and hits you with Sammy Duet screaming in anger. It then picks up again and a very catchy riff comes out with Dax singing his ass off. Fuck that song’s amazing!

Next is “Graveflower,” a simple song with trippy and cool melodic chords. This song is one of their bigger hits. There is no screaming, just a stoner like vibe through the whole thing. It’s actually a very beautiful song and shows off Dax’s voice and the bands ability to be melodic and beautiful and still maintain their dark vibe. “Diab Soule” is next, this title is Cajun French for “Drunken Devil.” Just from this you can see how badass the song is. It really is cool starting with bass and drums that turn into a monster of sludge driven riffs, in turn, making you feel drunk, in the best of ways of course! This leads into “Locust Spawning.” This track is pure sludge and heaviness, and pretty much all screaming. This is one of my favourite tracks, its fucking badass and heavy in so many ways. The ending is superb, it trails off with Dax screaming his ass off, “DEVOUR!!!!” It makes you cringe and feel like you want to kill someone, but not actually do it, of course.

The rest of the songs are all amazing, there is nothing bad at all in this CD. “New Death Sensation” is a slow ballad, but is not a regular one. It is very hypnotic and entrancing and fuck is it beautiful in the most demented of ways. “Venus Blue” is another more commercial sounding song, but that doesn’t mean it is bad, it’s got a very depressing vibe about it and it shows off the bands ability to give off a shitload of emotion in their sound. The chorus will give you chills, it’s haunting and unforgiving, plus the song has an amazing melody. “13 Fingers” and “New Corpse” are fast, heavy and sludgy songs. They are fucking brutal and strong. They have killer hooks and riffs and the band works their ass off to prove to the listener how fucking intense and crazy they are. “13 Fingers” is one of my all time favourites. Last but not least, “Dead Girl” is a beautiful ballad that makes you feel like you’re in pitch black stuck in a graveyard. It’s got one of the most depressing vibes ever, again this band gives off a fucking unbelievable atmosphere of darkness and drug enhanced melodies.

Yes, there are two “fillers,” but I enjoy both of them. “Old Skin” and “The Beautiful Downgrade” are both poems. It is Dax reading poems in a weird voice above a very weird, industrial sounding background. I love them for their ability to add to the bizarre sounds of this album and compliment this bands beauty in darkness. The poems have some amazing lines, and if you like lyrics a lot, check them out. But they are not actual songs, so don’t get your hopes up, although, I think they’re awesome!

Anyways, this is one of my all time favourite albums, and it should be an amazing experience for anybody who actually knows and enjoys music. This is a must have! I mean that, these guys were just fucking incredible, as close to perfect as it will ever get! So check these Southern psycho’s out!

Highlights: “Bleed Me and Ocean”, “Locust Spawning”, “Venus Blue”, “13 Fingers”, “New Death Sensation” and “New Corpse”.

Acid Bath's Paegen Terrorism Tatics is a blend of most true types of metal. It's classified as Sludge/Doom Metal which is a good interpretation, but a big Stoner influence is also shown, no doubt. In the album they go from Doomy Sabbath material all the way to a Death Metal Sludge much which sounds a lot like extreme thrash (borderline death) with a heavy punk influence (hence the Sludge). The Doomier side of Acid Bath shows melody and good songwriting skills, songs like Bleed Me an Ocean, Dead Girl, and New Death Sensation tend to stick with you long after the listening. The lyrics are dark and depressed and give off a psychotic mood throughout the whole album, and are graphic and detailed. Dax Riggs is a very able and talented vocalist and consists of the core and soul of the album, along with the rest of the band have great chemistry.

The album starts off with Paegen Love Song, a heavy sludge/doom number that chugs along with a good chorus and sets the tone of the album. From there it gets out of contol, Bleed Me an Ocean is a classic Doom song. Dark, slow, and of course depressing. Graveflower gets a shot of melody and keeps the slow pace and doom that was used on the last song. Diäb Soulé picks things way up, one of the most extreme Sludge songs on the album. It's face paced and for the first time (and not last) we hear the harsh death metal like vocals used. Locust Spawning doesn't pussy out or get any slower, it just builds on from the last song. A great fast riff drives this one, mixed with a heavy bass backing. Old Skin is odd, like poetry, and is demented. It's weird enough to make you listen every once and awhile. New Death Sensation is one of the, if not the best song on the album. It starts out acoustically with melodic vocals, it gets out the beautiful suicidal message encoded in it. The song eventually switches from it's acoustic vibe back to electric, but keeping the pace and mood. Venus Blue leaves off where New Death Sensation stopped, but gets heavier and adds more power to it. The chorus is amazing on this song too, again showing the song writing ability of Riggs. 13 Fingers and New Corpse are heavy Sludge, almost pounding the record to a close. Before it can though, the acoustic song Dead Girl shows up and just about steals the album. The song's only about seven minutes and twenty seconds but the record keeps it on until the 24:08 mark and then we hear an odd outro, like Old Skin and it ends.

This album's great for anyone that enjoys any kind of extreme metal, who knows where these guys could of been if it wasn't for Audie Pitre passing on in that car accident. Acid Bath capture a dark and dry depressed sense, and do it almost perfectly. The two inserts (Old Skin and The Untitled Track) are really not needed but are unique in their own way, and are good for a novelty every now and then. If you like true extreme metal, then Acid Bath probably will do something for you.

As with many bands I listen to, one of Acid Bath's songs passed me by on a web radio station and it was unique enough to grab my attention immediately. I was really surprised that I'd never heard of the band before, although their unfortunate break-up might have something to do with it.

I see several terms bandied about when people are trying to describe the band's sound. Sludge, 70's rock, Sabbath-influenced, stoner, doom...you could make a case for all of them. I'd say they have a definite grunge influence as well. Their singer would make an ideal grunge vocalist, but don't go running away just yet if you hate Nirvana. His voice is very tough to describe, but it's absolutely amazing and perfectly suits the atmosphere of the band (which I'll get to in a minute). He screams as well and does it quite skillfully. The guitar riffs are murky but discernable and remind me a lot of Black Sabbath, especially the one at the end of "Diäb Soulé".

Acid Bath create an atmosphere that's fairly unique in metal. Instead of another jaunt the land of elves and battle, we're treated to a truly bizarre and macabre journey into the dark underbelly of the American dream. (I probably stole that phrase from Hunter S. Thompson or somebody, but oh well) This album seems to live in a world of serial killers, late-night TV, and chemically-induced stupor. The lyrics are very disturbing, but not in a "break out the medical textbook" or "let's watch a slasher movie" way like a lot of metal bands. They seem geniunely committed to living the twisted thoughts of a serial killer like the one who designed their debut album cover. It's a very interesting approach.

The album comes to a head with the amazing "Dead Girl", which is simple song with just vocals and an acoustic guitar. This puts the morbid lyrics and powerful emotions of the album on full display. This is the stand-out track from the album, but the album is high-quality throughout. If I had to pick a few favorite songs I'd choose "Venus Blue", "Diäb Soulé", and "Graveflower". "New Corpse" is so raw it begins to sound like a black metal song.

It's tough to say "If you like styles or bands x, y, or z, then buy this album" because this band is so unique. If anything in this review sounded appealing to you, then I'd recommend picking it up. It's a travesty that this band isn't better known and that they're not making music any more, but hopefully a new generation of fans can enjoy them.