Metal music has many subgenres, each with a unique style, feel, and sound.
For example, there is doom metal, thrash metal, black metal, and many more. However, one that doesn’t always get the attention that it deserves is sludge metal, and no band deserves more credit for developing this sound than the 1990s band Acid Bath. Sludge metal mixes doom, hardcore punk, southern rock, and classic heavy metal.
Mainly the genre comes from southern parts of the United States, specifically in Louisiana with bands like Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Down which featured Pantera’s vocalist Phil Anselmo. These three bands are all from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Acid Bath is the most influential and popular out of the Louisiana sludge metal scene even the now-popular nu-metal band Slipknot opened for Acid Bath at one of their shows before they became well-known.
Acid Bath originated from Houma, Louisiana, and was active from 1991 to 1997. Consisting of five original members Dax Riggs on vocals, Mike Sanchez and Sammy Duet on guitar, Jimmy Kyle on drums, and Audie Pitre on bass.
In 1994, Acid Bath released their first full-length album, “When The Kite String Pops,” which is still one of the most popular and influential sludge metal albums ever. The album features artwork from serial killer J.W. Gacy, which made the album stand out from others but also caused a little controversy.
Fast forwarding Two years to 1996, Acid Bath would play numerous live shows throughout Louisiana and parts of the surrounding area. Most importantly, they would release their second and final album, “Paegan Terrorism Tactics” on November 12th, 1996.
A little over two months later on January 23rd, 1997, bassist Audie Pitre would be in a fatal traffic collision caused by a drunk driver named Adam Trahan. This collision unfortunately killed Audie and his parents, and only his younger brother Kelly Pitre would survive. After this incident, it would be a big turn for both Acid Bath and Audie’s other music project known as Shrum. Both bands would end shortly after Audie’s passing and Acid Bath would go on to play their final show on April 25th, 1997.
After Acid Bath’s ending, all members went silent except for guitarist Sammy Duet, who played live shows and made music with his black metal band Goatwhore, and vocalist Dax Riggs, who released music under multiple projects, including “Agents Of Oblivion” with second guitarist Mike Sanchez, “Dead Boy and the Elephant Man,” and under his name, Dax Riggs.
His music was more laid-back, with a Southern rock/blues sound and keeping the dark Louisiana themes instead of the heavy sound that Acid Bath was notorious for. Dax Riggs would only release three full-length albums under his name, with the last one being in 2010 and recorded here in Austin, TX.
On October 13th, 2024, Dax Riggs would break his fourteen-year silence and release a single named “deceiver” from his upcoming album “7 Songs For Spiders” scheduled to release on January 24th, 2025. Just three days later on October 15th, Acid Bath would break their nearly thirty years of silence by announcing they would be playing the “Sick New World” festival in Las Vegas on April 12th, 2025, and the “Sonic Temple & Music Festival” on May 9th, 2025. The lineup includes original vocalist Dax Riggs, original guitarist Mike Sanchez, and Sammy Duet with Alex Bergeron on bass and Zach Simmons on drums.
