Live music preview: Levitation Can’t Miss with Acid Bath
“’Acidic’ is my tip of the hat to one of my biggest influences, which is Acid Bath… The demo really made me feel like I was listening to something off 1994’s When the Kite String Pops … It’s my homage to the boys in Acid Bath.” — Corey Taylor, singer of Slipknot.
One of the biggest draws to this year’s Levitation Festival in Austin this month is New Orleans’ swamp weirdos, Acid Bath. If you’re reading this and underground metal with a Louisiana flair ain’t in your wheelhouse, lemme get you right: this is the band everyone at the festival can’t miss.
Acid Bath is cut from that same cloth — the sing-scream-sing cocktail Pantera weaponized, the dark harmonics Alice in Chains toyed with — only swampier, uglier, and way less polished. They never broke big; there was no major label payday. Instead, the story turned tragic in 1997 when bassist Audie Pitre was killed in a car crash. The band sank into the Louisiana muck, mythologized for almost thirty years. Members drifted into Deadboy & the Elephantmen or Goatwhore, but nothing they did touched the radioactive power of Acid Bath. A reunion? That’s not just a set, it’s a resurrection.
Getting into Acid Bath is a rite of passage for kids into heavy metal. Rarely are they discovered on their own; it’s always someone cool getting you hip to them late night in a coffee shop or some friend’s stoner brother was wearing their shirt. The band has always existed within the dreams of the mystic, which is why they endure: people love them because they stopped in their prime, they never cashed in, and they never were mainstream, always an underground cult act with many fans ready to pull up their hoods to chant along with songs like “Scream of The Butterfly”, “Dr. Seuss is Dead” and “Bleed me an Ocean.”
Formed in the Louisiana swamps in the early ’90s, Acid Bath were too weird and too heavy for the mainstream but instantly became cult heroes. Frontman Dax Riggs wrote lyrics that veered from gothic poetry to acid-drenched horror, while the band mashed sludge, doom, and grunge into something filthy and unclassifiable. Their two records — When the Kite String Pops (1994) and Paegan Terrorism Tactics (1996) — are underground classics, complete with disturbing cover art painted by John Wayne Gacy.
And as the mystique of the band grew, they never capitalized. There aren’t a ton of merch options; there aren’t ashtrays, special edition hoodies, or any of it. Everything Acid Bath has for sale is mostly through their label, Rotten Records. That’s likely much different now at their shows, because the hype is real and every show they’re playing is a sellout.
Everyone wonders, “Why now,” and it’s likely the obvious answer is that the guys in the band want to have a little money in their pockets. There’s a current doom and sludge revival, and it wouldn’t shock me if the same kids packing Crowbar shows are discovering Acid Bath thanks to the power of many TikToks featuring their music.
Over the years, there’s been frequent talk of Acid Bath being offered big money to play again. At one point, it was rumored that Corey Taylor might handle vocal duties if Dax Riggs wasn’t up to the task. Taylor even admitted, “I would love to do an Acid Bath show,” and the band once reached out to him, though nothing materialized. The tour never happened, and now it’s all just smoke. Riggs brushed it off: “There was never a real attempt—it was just inter-web bullshit. As far as why now? Death and taxes.” The rumors only deepened the band’s swamp-born mystique.
Acid Bath was the band putting John Wayne Gacy paintings on their records while everyone else was still standing in alleys trying to look hard. They never played the industry game, which is precisely why people worship them. Now, in 2025, the swamp’s most dangerous cult band is back on stage. Whether it’s death, taxes, or just TikTok sludge the kids are watching, one thing is clear: the resurrection is real.
Acid Bath plays Levitation Friday, September 26 at Palmer Events Center. Our friends at the festival tell us there aren’t many tickets left for for the opening night. Don’t miss it you freaks.
Featured photo courtesy of Acid Bath
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