Acid Bath

Initial career (1991–1997) Acid Bath formed in 1991. At some point during this period, Roadrunner Records sent a representative to one of their shows in New Orleans. According to Dax, "Word got out and the fans all went berserk. [...] It was a trainwreck." The concertgoers "completely destroyed" the venue in which the show was being held. According to Riggs, a waitress employed at the venue suffered a broken leg during the incident. Acid Bath did not get the record deal. followed two years later by their second and final effort, Paegan Terrorism Tactics (also produced by Keith Falgout and also on the Rotten Records label). Neither gained them mainstream success, but both albums earned substantial underground acclaim. In 2005, another album composed of their demos, Demos: 1993–1996, was released by Rotten Records. The last show the original lineup of Acid Bath performed took place at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium on April 25, 1997. Crowbar, Floodgate, and Dead Industry were also on the bill. Jeromy Boullion played guitar for Acid Bath instead of Mike Sanchez. Acid Bath did not get paid because the show was not promoted properly and not enough people attended. Break-up and subsequent projects (1997–2024) After two studio albums, Acid Bath's career abruptly ended on January 23, 1997, when bass guitarist Audie Pitre and his parents were killed by a drunk driver It was also rumored that some of the riffs were used for the first Goatwhore album; however, this was proven to be false. Tommy Viator played drums on Disincarnate's album Dreams of the Carrion Kind with the well-known death metal guitarist James Murphy. Dax Riggs and Mike Sanchez went on to perform in the band Agents of Oblivion, releasing one self-titled album in 2000 and disbanding shortly thereafter. However, these rumors were dismissed by other band members stating that "There is no ACID BATH without [late bassist] Audie Pitre, so there will never be 'new' ACID BATH material", and that "Currently, most of the surviving members of ACID BATH — Jimmy, Mike, and myself — have been considering the possibility of doing some shows in the future, as an ACID BATH tribute band, but nothing has been set in stone, and it is still just an idea." Reunion (2024–present) in Toronto in October 2025. On October 15, 2024, a one-off reunion show was announced at the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas that was to take place on April 12, 2025, what would be the band's first show in 28 years. In the following weeks after the reunion announcement, more festival dates were added, including the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 9, 2025, and Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 18. Concerts were also announced in New Orleans (April 25th and April 30th), Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Chicago, St Petersburg, Des Moines, Seattle, Portland, and Oakland. The band is schedueld to perform at Milwaukee Metal Fest in June 2026 as well. Additionally, a European tour supporting System of a Down and Queens of the Stone Age was announced on September 10 for summer 2026. Along with returning original members (Riggs, Duet, and Sanchez), Zack Simmons (Goatwhore) and Alex Bergeron (ex-Agents of Oblivion) were announced on drums and bass respectively. Shane Wesley (Crowbar) was ultimately chosen to play bass. == Musical style ==

Acid Bath is best known for blending extreme, death metal-influenced sludge metal with a mixture of death growls and melancholic goth/grunge-style vocals and acoustic guitar passages, as well as use of sampling and spoken word poetry. AllMusic has called the band's sound "difficult to pigeonhole" and described it as "a blend of Black Sabbath-like sludge, bluesy Southern rock, death metal, hardcore, and hints of goth and industrial". In a Pit Magazine interview, vocalist Dax Riggs classified their sound as "death rock". In another interview, guitarist Sammy Duet described their sound as "gothic hardcore". The band sampled sound clips from controversial movies including Blue Velvet and A Clockwork Orange. Dax Riggs' vocals were processed, which produced an industrial feel; some other instruments have been processed through industrial effects in their recordings (such as the snare drum on the second half of "New Death Sensation"). One of Acid Bath's trademarks was working multiple tempo changes into the song structure. Their experimentation drifted into diverse territory. The song "Scream of the Butterfly" is an acoustic blues song with double bass drum patterns toward the end. "The Bones of Baby Dolls" experiments with folk musicianship, and "Dead Girl" was described as a country song by Dax Riggs. Dax Riggs' lyrics are frequently poetic, often displaying an obsession with death, drug use, mental illness, dark humor, Louisiana-based regional culture, and continuous references to animism, paganism, nihilism, and misanthropy. He has claimed these inspirations are culled from comic books, namely those authored by Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Clive Barker, Another facet of their presentation which may not have endeared them to popular sentiment was the use of art by John Wayne Gacy and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. The ban has since been lifted. The cover of the band's 1994 extended play simply entitled Edits featured the artwork of Richard Ramirez. The cover of their 1996 compilation Radio Edits featured the artwork of Kenneth Bianchi. == Legacy ==

Despite only releasing two albums, as well as a number of radio edits and an official bootleg DVD, Acid Bath gained a strong underground following (especially in Louisiana) owing to the unique, experimental nature of their music. They have been cited as an influence on Slipknot's self-titled debut. == Members ==

Current members • Dax Riggs – lead vocals (1991–1997, 2024–present) • Sammy "Pierre" Duet – guitars, backing vocals (1991–1997, 2024–present) • Mike Sanchez – guitars (1991–1997, 2024–present) Current live members • Shane Wesley – bass (2024–present) • Zack Simmons – drums (2024–present) Former members • Jimmy Kyle – drums (1991–1997) • Audie Pitre – bass, backing vocals (1991–1997; died 1997) • Joseph Fontenot – bass (1997) • Tomas Viator – keyboards (1996–1997; died 2024) Former live members • Jeromy Boullion – guitar (1997) ;Timeline == Discography ==

Studio albums • When the Kite String Pops (1994) Rotten Records • Paegan Terrorism Tactics (1996) Rotten Records Demos • Wet Dreams of the Insane (Golgotha demo) (1991) • Screams of the Butterfly (1992) • Demo II (1993) • Hymns of the Needle Freak (1993) • Liquid Death Bootleg (1993) • Radio Edits 1 (1994) • Radio Edits 2 (1996) • Paegan Terrorism Tactics Outtakes (1996) • Demos: 1993–1996 (2005) Rotten Records Videos • "Apocalyptic Sunshine Bootleg" (1994) • "Toubabo Koomi" (1994) Rotten Records promo clip • "Double Live Bootleg!" DVD (2002) Rotten Records == References ==